30 September 2026
Iranian authorities said on Wednesday 30 September 2026 that they had received the formal US response to Iran's seven-day ceasefire plan, which President Trump had rejected. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the plan at the UN General Assembly: fighting would stop on all fronts including Lebanon, the US would lift its naval blockade and oil sanctions and release frozen Iranian assets, and the Strait of Hormuz would open at the end of the seventh day. The plan is based on the 17 June memorandum of understanding, under which Iran undertook to let ships pass through the strait without tolls for 60 days while peace talks took place; the new plan condenses the timeline and changes the sequence. The disagreement between the two sides is currently over the sequencing of the plan. The terms of the US response have not been made public.
Length of Iran's plan:
seven days
Earlier memorandum of understanding:
17 June
Iran's Foreign Minister:
Abbas Araghchi
Why it matters for exams: The Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf conflict recur in current affairs and geography questions on chokepoints.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Strait of Hormuz Waterway between Oman and Iran — A narrow strait linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and a key route for oil shipments.
MoU Memorandum of understanding — A written understanding between parties that is not a full treaty.
30 September 2026
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has completed testing of its fine-guidance system between 15 and 21 September 2026.
On 22 September 2026 its Coronagraph Instrument made a first observation, of a faint star in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The Wide Field Instrument has 18 detectors assigned to observe guide stars.
Pointing is stable to better than 1/100,000 of a degree for half an hour for Wide Field Instrument observations, or for eight hours for Coronagraph Instrument observations.
Roman uses spectral guiding, a method NASA says was not attempted before on a space telescope.
Wide Field Instrument guide-star detectors:
18
First coronagraph observation:
22 September 2026
Target:
Large Magellanic Cloud
Why it matters for exams: Space-telescope missions and instruments such as the coronagraph are standard science and technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Coronagraph Instrument that blocks starlight — It blocks a star's glare so that faint objects near it can be seen.
Large Magellanic Cloud Neighbouring dwarf galaxy — It is a small galaxy close to our own Milky Way.
30 September 2026
NASA has set the SpaceX Crew-13 launch for Thursday 1 October 2026 at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The crew is Commander Jessica Watkins and Pilot Luke Delaney of NASA, Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos.
The Dragon is to dock at the Harmony module's forward-facing port at about 7 p.m. EDT.
The transit of about 7 hours 50 minutes would be the fastest by a U.S. spacecraft in space station history.
Crew-12 is scheduled to return no earlier than 5 October 2026.
Launch:
1 October 2026, 11:10 a.m. EDT
Transit time:
About 7 hours 50 minutes
Launch site:
Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral
Why it matters for exams: Crewed missions to the International Space Station and international crew composition are recurring science and technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ISS International Space Station — It is a crewed research laboratory orbiting Earth, run by several space agencies.
Harmony ISS node module — It is a connecting module of the station with docking ports.
28 September 2026
The General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly ended with a call to turn words into action. General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman closed it. In all, 194 speakers took the floor, including 113 Heads of State and Government, one crown prince, 11 Vice Presidents, seven Deputy Prime Ministers and 48 Ministers. UN News drew six takeaways: peace as a defence of the UN Charter and international law, development running out of time with the SDGs largely off-track, inequality in global economic institutions, human rights enforcement, the rise of artificial intelligence in diplomacy (128 delegations discussed it, against five four years earlier) and the difficulty of rebuilding trust.
Session:
81st
Speakers:
194
Heads of State and Government:
113
Delegations discussing AI:
128
Why it matters for exams: UN bodies, their office-holders and session numbers are standard questions in UPSC and Kerala PSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
General Debate Annual high-level debate of the General Assembly — Member states set out their positions each September at the opening of a new session.
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals — The 17 global goals adopted by the UN for 2030.
28 September 2026
NASA and Boeing shared an update on the Starliner programme on 28 September 2026.
NASA intends to exercise options for a fifth and sixth Starliner flight to and from the International Space Station.
NASA will work with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify the Vulcan rocket for use after the Atlas V rocket's final flight; certification has not yet been completed.
An uncrewed Starliner-1 mission will precede crewed flights and has the potential to fly in December this year or January 2027.
NASA's current plan is to return astronauts on Starliner-2 by 2028.
Boeing has made thermal modifications to the spacecraft's service module, which NASA will evaluate on Starliner-1; NASA's Program Investigation Team had identified 61 recommendations.
Uncrewed Starliner-1 potential flight:
December this year or January 2027
Crewed Starliner-2:
By 2028
Review recommendations:
61
Why it matters for exams: Commercial crew programmes and launch vehicle certification are common science and technology topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ULA United Launch Alliance — It is the company that builds and flies the Atlas V and Vulcan rockets.
Service module Starliner service module — It is the part of the spacecraft holding propulsion and power systems.
29 September 2026
NASA has added Blue Origin's New Glenn 9x4 launch service to the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract.
The addition used the contract's on-ramp clause, which allows annual competition for new providers.
The ordering period runs through June 2030 and the overall performance period through December 2032.
The vehicle can support missions in Human Spaceflight, Science, and Research and Technology.
The contract also lets NASA provide launch services to other government agencies, such as NOAA.
It is managed by NASA's Launch Services Program Office at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Contract:
NASA Launch Services (NLS) II
Ordering period:
Through June 2030
Performance period:
Through December 2032
Why it matters for exams: Launch-service contracts and commercial launch providers feature in science and technology current affairs.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — It is the U.S. agency for weather, oceans and climate.
On-ramp Contract on-ramp clause — It lets new providers join a running contract through annual competition.
30 September 2026
WHO published the Report of the Regional Director on the work of WHO in the Western Pacific Region on 30 September 2026.
It covers the period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 and carries the reference WPR/RC77/2.
The region serves more than 2.2 billion people.
It supports the regional vision Weaving Health for Families, Communities and Societies in the Western Pacific Region (2025-2029).
The report highlights strengthened primary health care, community and health system resilience, and progress toward universal health coverage.
Population served:
More than 2.2 billion
Reporting period:
1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026
Reference:
WPR/RC77/2
Why it matters for exams: WHO's regional structure and universal health coverage are standard questions on international organisations and health.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UHC Universal health coverage — It means everyone can get needed health services without financial hardship.
Primary health care Primary health care — It is first-contact, community-based care close to where people live.