Study sheet: September 22 Banking Current Affairs

📋 Course Outline

1. India–Sri Lanka SLINEX 26 Exercise
2. India–Russia Technology Agreements
3. Soil Carbon Payments for Farmers
4. Food Export and Global Trade
5. Electronics and Smart Technology Partnership
6. India–Bhutan Diplomatic Cooperation
7. IOB–Noviio RuPay Credit Card
8. Economic and Film Current Affairs
9. Defence Equipment and Attack Drone
10. Science Sports and Important Days
11. Rural Property Registration Scheme

📖 1. India–Sri Lanka SLINEX 26 Exercise

★ Must-know

• The 13th edition of the India–Sri Lanka naval exercise SLINEX 26 was conducted at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

• SLINEX has been conducted between the Indian Navy and Sri Lanka Navy since 2005 to strengthen maritime cooperation and capabilities.

Further detail

• The Indian participants in SLINEX 26 were INS Kavaratti and INS Jyoti, while the Sri Lankan participant was SLNS Sindurala.

• The 12th edition of SLINEX was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

💡 Memory Hook

India and Sri Lanka exchange naval capabilities through cooperation, not conflict.

📖 2. India–Russia Technology Agreements

★ Must-know

• The Indo-Russia InnoPragmatica Technology Hub signed four strategic agreements at InnoProm India 2026 in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

• The four cooperation sectors were:

  • artificial intelligence
  • cybersecurity
  • healthcare technology
  • electronics and investment

Further detail

• The agreements were presented as a way to strengthen digital collaboration between India and Russia and support micro, small and medium enterprises.

💡 Memory Hook

AI–Cyber–Health–Electronics and Investment: the four cooperation sectors.

📖 3. Soil Carbon Payments for Farmers

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Soil Carbon Payment : an incentive paid to farmers when companies purchase verified carbon credits generated through soil-conserving agricultural practices

★ Must-know

• India introduced its first farm-level soil carbon payment programme for farmers in Punjab and Haryana.

• Individual farmers can receive payments ranging from ₹3,000 to ₹15,000 for verified soil carbon credits.

Further detail

• The programme initially covered 30,000 acres and later expanded to approximately 50,000 acres, with participation from 2,550 smallholder farmers.

💡 Memory Hook

Regenerative farming → verified soil carbon → company payment to farmers.

📖 4. Food Export and Global Trade

★ Must-know

• APEDA signed a memorandum of understanding with Informa Markets Dubai to strengthen global food-trade opportunities for Indian agricultural and processed food products.

• India became the official partner country of Gulfood 2027, described as a major international food event.

Further detail

• The MoU was signed at Vanijya Bhavan in New Delhi by APEDA Secretary Susanta Bose and Mark Napier, Vice President of Informa Markets Dubai.

• APEDA was established in 1956 and has its headquarters in New Delhi.

💡 Memory Hook

Processed food lasts longer → export opportunities expand through APEDA partnerships.

📖 5. Electronics and Smart Technology Partnership

★ Must-know

• IIT Bengaluru and the Taipei Computer Association signed a letter of intent to promote cooperation in electronics and smart technologies.

Further detail

• The partnership was presented as the first major technology partnership between Taiwan and South India.

📖 6. India–Bhutan Diplomatic Cooperation

★ Must-know

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made a three-day visit to Bhutan at the invitation of Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

• The projects covered:

  • healthcare
  • connectivity
  • agriculture
  • clean mobility
  • energy

• India extended a ₹4,000 crore line of credit to Bhutan for energy projects.

Further detail

• Bhutan's capital is Thimphu and its currency is the ngultrum.

💡 Memory Hook

Visit → five projects → expanded credit → energy cooperation.

📖 7. IOB–Noviio RuPay Credit Card

★ Must-know

• Noviio and Indian Overseas Bank launched a co-branded RuPay credit card at the Global FinTech Fest 2026 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• The card targets first-time credit-card users and UPI users by linking RuPay credit-card access with UPI transactions.

Further detail

• The co-branded card is available in RuPay Select and RuPay Platinum variants.

• Reported benefits include: airport lounge access, instant cashback at merchants, a free monthly movie ticket through BookMyShow

📖 8. Economic and Film Current Affairs

★ Must-know

• Moody's Ratings forecast India's real GDP growth at 7% for financial year 2026–2027, revising it upward from 6%.

• India's GDP growth was projected at 7.8% for the first quarter of 2027 and had been 8.2% in the first half of calendar year 2026.

• The Marathi thriller film Ghaath was selected as India's official entry for the Oscars 2027 in the Best International Feature Film category.

Further detail

• The forecast cited the West Asia conflict as a reason for the expected slowdown and projected inflation of 4.8% for financial year 2026–2027.

• Ghaath was selected from 33 Marathi-language film entries and became the fourth Marathi film selected as India's Oscar entry.

• The film was directed by Santosh Dakhavkar, who received the Silver Peacock for Best Director.

📖 9. Defence Equipment and Attack Drone

★ Must-know

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over two Tejas light combat aircraft with final operational clearance and three Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 basic trainer aircraft to the Indian Air Force.

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited handed over four Dhruv next-generation helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited.

• India successfully tested its indigenous long-range one-way attack drone KAL at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan.

• The KAL drone has a reported range of 1,000 kilometres, endurance of seven to eight hours, payload capacity of 50 kilograms of explosives, and operating altitude of 5,000 metres.

Further detail

• The handover took place in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was established in 1940 as a Maharatna central public-sector enterprise.

💡 Memory Hook

Tejas and trainers → helicopters → long-range one-way attack drone.

📖 10. Science Sports and Important Days

★ Must-know

• A new tiger-cat species named Leopardus tigrillo was reported from Bolivia's Yungas cloud forest after approximately 100 years without a comparable living-felid discovery.

• India will host the 11th Asian Senior Wushu Championships for the first time in 2028.

📌 Wushu includes taolu, a solo performance involving weapon or routine demonstrations, and sanda, a protected one-on-one combat format.

Further detail

• World Bamboo Day is observed on 18 September to promote awareness of bamboo's environmental, cultural, and economic importance.

• World Water Monitoring Day is observed on 18 September to raise awareness about monitoring and protecting water resources.

• The discovery of Leopardus tigrillo was published in the journal Current Biology.

• The 2028 championship is expected to involve 500 athletes from 42 Asian countries, while the previous edition was held in Macau, China, from 12 to 15 September 2024.

📖 11. Rural Property Registration Scheme

★ Must-know

• Madhya Pradesh became the first Indian state to launch the Svamitva Adhikar Abhilekh Nirman Evam Panchayat Yojana for large-scale rural property registration.

• The scheme aims to strengthen rural land ownership records by mapping and registering rural properties.

• Approximately 50 lakh rural properties can be registered free of charge through special camps conducted at the panchayat level.

Further detail

• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav launched the scheme at the Gandhi Nagar ground in the state.

💡 Memory Hook

Mapping rural property → stronger ownership records and easier registration.

📊 Synthesis Tables

Key India–International Partnerships

Partners	Instrument or event	Main purpose
India and Sri Lanka	SLINEX 26	Naval cooperation
India and Russia	Four strategic agreements	Digital and technology collaboration
India and Bhutan	Five projects and ₹4,000 crore credit	Bilateral development and energy cooperation
APEDA and Informa Markets Dubai	MoU	Global processed-food trade