INAUGURAL GITLIN AUSTER DEFENDER OF DEMOCRACY AWARD 2026

* Historian, Professor, AUTHOR Heather Cox Richardson Is The Inaugural Winner Of The Gitlin - Auster Defender Of Democracy Award in 2026 

* Presented By Writers Of Democratic Action (WDA) 

* HER NOTABLE WORKS ARE - DEMOCRACY AWAKENING : Notes On The State Of America And How The South Won The Civil War 

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 11TH SEPTEMBER 2026

World Suicide Prevention Day - 10th September 

THEME 2026 - Changing The Narrative On Suicide 

1) New Delhi Host The National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited ( NICDC) In The First Edition Of INNOPROM India 2026.

2) Historian, Professor, AUTHOR Heather Cox Richardson Is The Inaugural Winner Of The Gitlin - Auster Defender Of Democracy Award in 2026 

* Presented By Writers Of Democratic Action (WDA) 

* HER NOTABLE WORKS ARE - DEMOCRACY AWAKENING : Notes On The State Of America And How The South Won The Civil War 

3) UNESCO & Education Above All Foundation ( EAA Foundation) Doha, Qatar With The Support Of Permanent Delegation Of The State Of Qatar To UNESCO Launched The CROSSING At UNEDCO HQ ( Highlights The Growing Number Of Attacks in School) 

4) Paris Host The International Space Summit 2026 

5) Actress Rani Mukherjee Wins The Late Raj Kapoor Special Contribution Award 2025 At 62nd Maharshtra State Film Award 

* Prasad Oak Wins Chatrapati V Shantaram Special Contribution Award 2025 

* Salim Khan Received The Late Raj Kapoor Lifetime achievement Award 

* Pandit Hrudayanath Mangeshkar - Chitrapati V Shantaram Lifetime achievement Award 

6) Sikkim Made Film Numahangma Directed By Filmmaker Niyara Subba Selected In 2nd Nepal Indigenous Film Festival ( NIFF) 2026, Held At London 

7) Prince Rahim Aga Khan V On His First Visit To India (50th Imam Of Ismaili Muslim Community) 

8) INS SUDARSHINI ( Sail Training Ship) Conducted a PASSEX Exercise With Italian Navy ( ITS PALINURO) In Livorno Port 

9) Guwahati University Announced The 2026 Year Of Indigenous Literacy Initiative 

10) Former World Champion ( Badminton Number 1 ) Shi Yuqi Announced Retirement 

11) Saima Wazed, The World Health Organisation ( WHO) South East Regional Director, Daughter Of Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Has Resigned 

12) Ground Nut Variety ( GPBD 4) Developed By University of Agricultural Science ( UAS) Dharwad Has Been Selected For The ISSCA ( ICRISAT Centre Of Excellence For South - South Cooperation In Agriculture) AWARD 2026 ( Under The Category Of Crop Improvement And Production)

13) Indigenous Multi Role STEALTH FRIGATE INS Udaygiri Visited To Colombo, Srilanka 

14) Elena RYBAKINA Became Tennis Number One Ranking 

15) Israel Opens It's Embassy In Slovenia 

16) Central Bureau Of Investigation ( CBI) Successfully SECURED The Return To India Of Long Absconding Accused Harnek Singh 

17) East Zone Has Wins The Duleep Trophy 2026 After Beating South Zone 

* After 13 Years East Zone Wins 

18) Delhi Host The 18th BRICS SUMMIT 2026 

THEME 2026 -Building For Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation And Sustainability 

19) New Delhi Host The 3 Day Global Dryland Congress 2026 

( Theme 2026 - Transforming Dryland Agriculture With South - South Cooperation) 

20) 9th ASEAN- India Ministerial Meeting On Agriculture, And Forestry In New Delhi 

21) 4th Edition Of Bilateral Maritime Exercise SAMUDRA LAKSMANA ( With Malaysia) 

22) KORAPUT MP Saptagiri Ulaka Wins Sansad Ratna Award 2026 

23) Arunachal Pradesh Celebrate The Pham-kho -Sowai 

24) Nyra Sharma, (Age 10) Became The Youngest Indian To Qualify For National Shooting Championship 

25) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Sindhe Has Received The Prestigious Commonwealth Public Leadership Recognition Award 2026 in British Upper House 

26) Houthis Capture The Yemen's Strategic Port City Of Mokha 

27) Harita Bhadra Clocks 2nd All Time Fastest Indian In 100 meter (11,22 ) 

28) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ( Director  WHO) Honoured WITH Order Of Timor Leste 

29) British High Commissioner To India Lindy Cameron Appointed As The United Kingdom New Permanent Under Secretary ( PUS) At The Foreign, Commonwealth And Development Office ( FCDO) ( First Woman) 

30) THE WORLD WAS NOT THEIR STORY : odyssey Of Indian Reporter) Book Author - Saeed Naqvi 

A NEW LICHEN SPECIES DISCOVERD IN KERALAM

* RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED A NEW LICHEN SPECIES IN KERALAM STATE.

* FOUND IN MATTHIKETAN  SHOLA NATIONAL PARK 

* SPECIES NAMED - BUELLIA MAHARAJENSIS ( 

A NEW FISH SPECIES DISCOVERD IN TAWANG DISTRICT, ARUNACHAL PRADESH

* SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED A NEW SPECIES OF FISH IN HIGH ALTITUDE LAKE AT TAWANG DISTRICT, ARUNACHAL PRADESH.

* SCIENTISTS FROM ICAR - CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF COLD WATER FISHERIES RESEARCH ( ICAR -CICFR) BHIMTAL RECORDED THIS SPECIES FIRST TIME 

* SPECIES NAMED - SCHIZOPYGOPSIS WADDELLII ( Regan, 1908) 

* AT A HIGH ALTITUDE OF 12,800 FEET IN TAWANG DISTRICT 

* SPECIES FAMILY BELONGS TO - CYPRINIDAE 

* 

JANUARY TO AUGUST ISRO & SPACE CA IN 2026

JANUARY 2026 - 

* ISRO Has Been Awarded Tagore Prize For Social Achievement 2024/25 Award 

* Hyderbad Based Dhruva Space Will Launch 10 Space Mission On 12th January 2026 

* Orbit Aid Aerospace Has Unveiled Its Official AayulSAT Will Launch On 12th January 2026 

* ISRO LAUNCHED PSLV C-62 

* ON 12TH JANUARY 2026 ISRO ATTEMPTED THE EOS-N1 MISSION FROM PSLV -C62 CARRIER AT SDSC - SHAR SARIHARIKOTA, ANDHRA PRADESH. 

* THIS WAS THE 64TH FLIGHT FROM PSLV 

* 5TH MISSION OF PSLV - DL VARIANT 

* VEHICLE HEIGHT - 44.4 M 

* IT WOULD CARRY EOS - N1 ALONG WITH 15 OTHER SATELLITE 

* BOSCO UNIVERSITY STUDENT DEVELOPED SATELLITE - LACHIT - 1 ( FIRST SATELLITE FROM NORTH EAST TO BE SENT INTO SSPACE ABROAD PSLV- C62) 

* AND ORBIT AID Aerospace - THEY SET TO DEMONSTRATE INDIA's FIRST O - ORBIT INTERNAL PROPELLANT TRANSFER 

* DHRUVA SPACE TO DELIVER THEIR THYBOLT-3 

*  Bengaluru Based Nabh DRISHTI Aerospace Has Successfully Tested It's Indigenous ND400 Microjet Engine.

RETIRES - 

*  NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Retires After 27 Years.

*  Pixxel Space Has Signed WITH IN Space India To Design, Build, And Operate India's National EO Satellite SYSTEM Along With Dhruva Space, SAT SURE 

* Researchers From IIT KHARAGPUR Have Successfully Developed a Critical Boron Based Chemical For ISRO 's GAGANYAAN Mission - 

* 

DEVELOPED - 

* Bengaluru BASED AKASHLABDHI Set To Launch India's First Inflatable Space Habitat AntarikshHUB

* Astronomer Have Discovered A New Planet, 146 Light Years From Earth ( HD137010b) 

FEBRUARY - 

* Astronomer From ARIES Nainital And Department Of Science & Technology ( DST) Have Uncovered a Active Star Formation By Expanding Infrared Bubble Named - E71, 

*Aditya Panda Became The Youngest Indian ( 17) To Analog Astronaut. (Conducted By AAKA space Studio Held At Dholavira, Kutch Gujarat) 

* 

MARCH - 

* Bengaluru Based Galax Eye Has Dispatched The World's First OptoSAR Satellite To Launched.

*  Ahmedabad Based Pier Sight Has Successfully Completed The Testing Of It's VARUNA 2.0 Satellite Reflectarray Antenna At ISRO's Compact Antenna Test Range Facility ( CATF) In Ahmedabad 

* Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Has Signed MoU With Bellatrix Aerospace To Collaborate On The Design, Development And Manufacturing Of Satellite System 

* * AHMEDABAD BASED START-UP OM SPACE HAS LAUNCHED GUJARAT FIRST SOUNDING ROCKET FROM DHOLERA 

* Bengaluru Based New Space Has Successfully Flight Tested It's Sheshnag-20 Loitering Munition

*  Researchers From ISRO (IIRS) Are Using Game Theory To Predict How Bengal Tigers Navigate Central India 

* ISRO Successfully Conducted The Sea Level Hot Test Of The CE20 Cryogenic Engine At The ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendra Giri, Tamilnadu 

*  ISRO Has Received Akasha 300 3D Printer From Kerala Based Startup - Space Time 4D Printing Solution 

*  Indian startup AGNIKUL Cosmos Tested Fires 1 Meter Long Single Piece 3D Printed Agnite Engine 

* European Union And India Have Concluded A Working Arrangement Between The European Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA) And The DIRECTORATE General Of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) Of India In The Field Of Industrial Aviation Production.

APRIL - 

* India Russia Signed MoU On Lab To Fast Track Drone Satellite Talent 

 * Indian Astronomers DISCOVERD A Forbidden Alien Planet Exoplanet - TOI 5205

*Indian SPACE Research Organisation (ISRO) Launched Mission MITRA For Safety Of Human Spaceflight Mission Crew 

* ISRO Successfully Accomplished The 2nd Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT - 02) For Gaganyaan At Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota 

ARTEMIS II ( MOON MISSION) - 

* NASA LAUNCHED THE ARTEMIS II, FIRST CREWED MISSION TO THE MOON AFTER 57 YEARS ( APPOLLO 11 IN 1969) 

* IT HAS LIFTED FROM KENNEDY SPACE CENTRE, FLORIDA 

* THIS 10 DAYS MISSION KICKED ON 2ND APRIL 2026 

* ASTRONAUT REID WISEMAN, VICTOR GLOVER, CHRISTINA KOCH, AND CANADIAN ASTRONAUT HEREMY HANSEN 

* CHRISTINA KOCH BECAME THE FIRST FEMALE TO MOON MISSION 

ABOUT ASTRONAUT - 

REID WISEMAN - 

* Former Chief Of Astronaut Office 

* Spent 165 Days Aboard In The ISS In 2014 

JEREMY HANSEN - 

* Canadian Astronaut And Former CF-18 Fighter Pilot SELECTED By Canadian Space Agency in 2009;

*

VICTOR  GLOVER - 

*NASA Astronaut, US NAVY, AVIATOR 

 * Piloted Space X Crew - 1 To ISS 

* Served As Flight Engineer On Expedition 64/65 

* First Black Astronaut To Travel Beyond Low Earth Orbit 

CHRISTINA KOCH - 

* NASA ASTRONAUT 

* SHE SPENT 328 CONSECUTIVE DAYS IN INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION 

* 328 days LONGEST SPENT BY A WOMAN IN ISS 

* FIRST FEMALE ASTRONAUT TO FLY ON TO MOON 

* NASA ARTEMIS II Set A New Record Reaching The Farthest Distance Humans Have Travelled From Earth ( Crossed 252,752 miles During Lunar Flyby Surpassing Apollo 13 Mission Record) 

* ARTEMIS II Astronaut Name Lunar Crater Named After NASA Astronaut Reid WISEMAN 's Late Wife - Carroll Taylor WISEMAN 

* The ARTEMIS II Crew Has Been Landed On Earth  ( 10 Days Completed) ( Completed 690,000 Miles) 

* Bengaluru Based New Space Has Successfully Tested Its Sheshnag -150 Loitering Munition.

* ISRO's Space Application Centre And The Ashoka Trust For Research In Ecology And The Environment ( ATREE) Have Signed A MoU To Strengthen Collaboration In Research, Data Knowledge Exchange 

*  51 Years Completed The India's First Own Satellite ARYABHATTA 

* Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Has Inaugurated A State Of The Art Satellite Navigation INS SYSTEM ( G3INS) Testing Facility At Korwa Divison 

* 

* Telengana Chief Minister Shri Revanth Reddy Along With Industries MINISTER D Sridhar Babu, Flagged Off The Flight Hardware Of Skyroot Aerospace VIKRAM -1 ( India's First Privately Developed ORBITAL Rocket) 

* 

MAY - 

GALAXEYE SPACE - 

* GALAXEYE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED THE WORLD'S FIRST OptoSAR Satellite ( ALL WEATHER) 

* IT IS THE LARGEST PRIVATELY BUILT SATELLITE IN INDIA, 

* LAUNCHED FROM FALCON -9. BY SPACE X 

* Skyroot Aerospace Has Raised USD 60 Million Valuation 

 * Mumbai Based Manastu Space Has Successfully Cleared The Thermovac Testing At IN -SPACE Facility At Ahmedabad 

*  ISRO Scientists Nandini Harinath's Saree, Which She Wore During Mangalyaan Mission Showcase At Prestigious Smithsonian Museum In US

* 

AWARDS - 

* ISRO TEAM ( CHANDRAYAAN 3) Wins The Prestigious GODDARD Astronautics Award From The American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics

* Astronomers Spot A Blue Straggler Star Hosting Brown Dwarf 

*  Manipuri Astrophysicist Ronaldo Laishram Has Discovered A 12.6 billion Years Old Galaxy Structure ( Named After Manipur's LOKTAK Lake) LOKTAK PROTOCLUSTER 

* Red Balloon Launched India's First Super Pressure Balloon, ( Payload Upto 50 Kg)

*  ISRO's Chandrayaan -2 Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar ( DFSAR) Observation Revealed The Subsurface Ice In Lunar South Polar Regions 

* Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter Is A Microwave Imaging Instrument In L And S-Band Frequencies And The First Fully Polari metric SAR To Study The Moon 

* 

JUNE - 

* IIT KANPUR Has Established India's First DORIS ( Doppler Orbitography And Radio positioning Integrated By satellite) 

*  Indian Astronaut P Balakrishnan Nair Has Awarded With Kirti Chakra 

*  Dhruva Space Has Received The SPACE STARTUP OF THE YEAR At The Indian Space Congress Excellence Award 2026 

* ISRO Successfully Hot Tested The Semi Cryogenic Engine SE -'2000 At 175 Tons THRUST In MAHENDRAGIRI 

* India Has Successfully Conducted It's First Satellite Based Landing System Approach On a Jet Aircraft, With An Indigo Airbus A320 Performing An LPV ( Localiser Performance With Vertical Guidance) Approach At Udaipur Airport 

JULY - 

* Skyroot Aerospace Has Announcing Vikram -1 Test Flight -1 MISSION Set To Launch With In One Month in 2026 

*  ISRO Successfully Conducted The SOLVE Ground Test ( GAGANYAAN Mission) 

* SOLVE - Sub Orbital Launch Vehicle For Experiment) 

* It Will Be Used To Validate The CREW Modules Parachute Based Deceleration System Under Different Test Condition 

* Vikram -1 Test Flight Mission AAGAMAN Which Will Carry GRAHA SPACE 's SOLARAS S3 Satellite, Cosmoserve Space In Orbit Arm Embrace, Germany's DCUBED Space Orbit Demonstration, SKYROOT Own SCOPE Satellite 

Skyroot Own SATELITE 

* ISRO Has Successfully Conducted The Flight Acceptance Hot Test Of CE 20 Cyro Engine For LVM3-M7 Mission 

*  ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan Has Given As Additional Charge Of Space Secretary 

* ISRO Has Successfully Conducted A Critical Integrated Main Parachute Air Drop Test ( IMAT) For The GAGANYAAN MISSION At The Aerial Delivery Research And Development Establishment ( ADRDE) In Madhya Pradesh 

* PRL Scientists Have Found That Chandrayaan -3' Alpha Particle -X Spectrometer Measurement Connect Composition At Shiv Shakti Statio To The First Lunar Meteorite ALHA 81005 

* Space Field, An Space Startup Has Inaugurated It's New Research And Development Facility, ( ISO CERTIFIED Work field) 

* Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan Inaugurated 

* NASA Astronaut Anil Menon Along With Roscomous Cosmonaut Pytor Dubrov, Anna Kikina lifted Off On Soyuz - MS 29 Aircraft To International Space Station ( 240 Days) in 

* 

MISSION AGAMAN ( BY SKYROOT AEROSPACE) - 

* SKYROOT, AN SPACE STARTUP ( SET TO LAUNCH ITS) VIKRAM -1 FROM SATISH DHAWAN SPACE CENTRE, SRIHARIKOTA, ANDHRA PRADESH. ( ON 18TH JULY 2026) 

* THIS MISSION NAMED MISSION AGAMAN 

* THIS WILL BE THE FIRST ATTEMPT BY PRIVATELY DEVELOPED ORBITAL CLASS ROCKET 

* VEHICLE INFORMATION - 

* VEHICLE TYPE - ORBITAL LAUNCH VEHICLE 

* TARGET ORBIT - 450 KM, 60 DEGREE INCLINATION 

* DESIGN CAPACITY - UPTO 350 KG To LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO) 

* * Vikram -1 Test Flight Mission AAGAMAN Which Will Carry GRAHA SPACE 's SOLARAS S3 Satellite, Cosmoserve Space In Orbit Arm Embrace, Germany's DCUBED Space Orbit Demonstration, SKYROOT Own SCOPE Satellite 

Skyroot Own SATELITE 

 * Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO), Shree Chitra Tribunal Institute For Medical Sciences & Technology ( SCTIMST) Have Signed Pact For Research In Space Medicine, Bioastronautics 

AUGUST - 

* Mahindra Group Has Launched A New Aerospace Company Named - NOVAVAYU Aerospace 

* Bengaluru Based Startup Astrobase Space Has Unveiled The EVEREST, India's First Fully INTEGRATED 80 Tonne Full Flow Stage Combustion Engine Running On Liquid Oxygen And Methane 

* Fourth Country To Initiate 

( Russia, USA, CHINA) 

*  Digantara Space Startup Has Unveiled The MOSAIC, AI Powered Wide Area Sensing Architecture, Built To Search, Detect, Track Objects, 

* Bhubaneswar Startup Serendipity India Has Successfully Tested The India's First Near Space Pharma Manufacturing Platform 

* Alchemy Autonomous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Model Under Microgravity Condition.

* Sophie Adenot Became The First French Female Astronaut To Venture Outside The International Space Station At 18th August 2026 

*  Rohan Naidu Has Discovered a Black Hole Star