UPSC Current Affairs — October 2026
All 170 UPSC-relevant news stories from October 2026, grouped by GS paper. Each links to a study note with background, the concept explained, Prelims facts and practice questions.
GS Paper 1 — History, Geography, Society · 5
How the 1917 and 1949 Revolutions Shaped Modern World Politics
The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Chinese Revolution of 1949, both associated with October, reshaped twentieth-century politics and ideology. The Russian Revolution, arising from World War I's strain on Tsarist…
5 Oct 2026 · GS1 · History
Marxist to Hindutva: How NCERT history book rows mirror a battle for India’s past
Indian history writing has never been ideologically neutral. Colonial historians such as James Mill periodised India's past into Hindu, Muslim and British India, projecting British rule as uniquely 'modern' while…
4 Oct 2026 · GS1 · History
In democracy’s journey to future, Gandhi is the wise guide and co-traveller
Mahatma Gandhi is often remembered chiefly as the architect of non-violent protest, yet his writings also carry a strong constructive impulse relevant to designing democratic institutions. Though Gandhi called himself a…
4 Oct 2026 · GS1, GS2 · History
Five Centres of Excellence Approved for Classical Languages
India created the Classical Language category in 2004 to recognise languages with at least 1,500 to 2,000 years of textual antiquity and an independent literary tradition. Tamil was the first language recognised…
4 Oct 2026 · GS1, GS2 · History
Revisiting Mahatma Gandhi's Unfinished Global Non-violence Project
A recent op-ed reflects on Mahatma Gandhi's final years and his unrealised plan to lead a global non-violence movement after India's independence. Gandhi's fasting technique, first used politically against the Communal…
2 Oct 2026 · GS1 · History
GS Paper 2 — Polity, Governance, International Relations · 63
Delhi Draft Rolls Show Skewed Exclusion Under SIR Process
The Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has drawn scrutiny. An investigation of Delhi's draft rolls found a pattern of disproportionate exclusion of Muslim electors. They…
15 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Cabinet Extends and Renames National Social Assistance Programme Till 2030-31
The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) for five years, from 2026-27 to 2030-31, with an outlay of ₹53,428 crore. NSAP, launched in 1995 under Article 41 of the…
15 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
India to Join Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement as Full Member
The Union Government has approved India's accession to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA). India is upgrading from a limited Cooperating Non-Contracting Party (CNCP, a status held since 2022) to a…
15 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Arunachal Protests Grow Over Siang Hydel Project Amid China Factor
Protests have intensified in Arunachal Pradesh's Siang valley against the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. Security deployment, detention of protestors under the state's Unlawful Activities…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Parties Back Caste Census but Avoid OBC Quota Amendment
OBC groups have long demanded a caste census and a constitutional amendment. They want to expand their reservation in proportion to their actual population share. They claim this exceeds 50% based on the 1931 Census.…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Polity
India's Need for a Trained Elderly Caregiver Workforce
India's elderly population, persons aged 60 and above, was about 149 million in 2022. It is projected to reach 347 million by 2050. Most elderly care in India is informal, unpaid, and provided mostly by women. NSO data…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · Society
Israel, US Reject Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize as Verdict
Navi Pillay, a South African jurist of Indian Tamil descent, won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. She won it for her career in international criminal justice. Her work included service on the International Criminal Tribunal…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2 · IR
Houthi-Saudi Conflict Escalates Over Red Sea Control
A dispute over an Iranian flight carrying Houthi leaders back to Sanaa triggered the collapse of Yemen's ceasefire. This revived war between the Houthis (Ansar Allah), a Zaydi Shia group backed by Iran, and the…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
BIMSTEC Home Ministers Adopt Delhi Declaration Against Terrorism
India hosted the first-ever BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi. All seven member states adopted the Delhi Declaration against terrorism. These states are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Overtreatment and Overmedication in India's Health System
India faces a dual problem of overtreatment for those who can pay or are insured and undertreatment for those who cannot. Overtreatment develops as a chain: an incidental test finding leads to further tests, a diagnosis…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
India Reports Faster TB Decline, Launches Youth-Led JOSH Campaign
India's TB elimination drive has shown notable progress. The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 recorded a 21% fall in new TB cases between 2015 and 2024. This compares with a global decline of only 12%. India's…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
Supreme Court Refers RTI-DPDP Privacy Clash to Constitution Bench
The Supreme Court has referred petitions challenging an amendment to Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005 to a Constitution Bench. The amendment came through Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP)…
14 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
US Visa and Tariff Moves Add Strain to India-US Trade Ties
The US has suspended several major Indian IT firms from the PERM programme. PERM is the labour-certification route to US permanent residency. This follows an earlier $100,000 fee on H-1B visas. This adds a new front to…
13 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Delhi Protests Reopen Debate on Liberty and Detention Powers
The right to protest in India flows from Article 19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution, subject to reasonable restrictions under Articles 19(2) and 19(3) on grounds including public order. The main statutory…
13 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Supreme Court Takes Up Delhi Public Safety Failures
The Supreme Court's suo motu action on recent Delhi-NCR sexual assault cases has reopened questions about whether anything structurally changed since the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. That case led to the Justice J S Verma…
13 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Society
Supreme Court Declines PIL Seeking Hindi as Court Language
A public interest litigation asked the Supreme Court to direct the Union Government to set up a commission. This commission would recommend Hindi as the Supreme Court's official language. The Bench declined. Such a…
13 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
India Proposes Black Sea Ceasefire to End Russia-Ukraine War
India has put forward a proposal to ease the Russia-Ukraine war. The proposal is comprehensive but limited. It focuses on a Black Sea ceasefire. The plan asks Russia to stop attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure. It…
12 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Concerns Grow Over Declining Credibility of Indian Elections
The Election Commission of India is a permanent constitutional body established on 25 January 1950. Articles 324 to 329 give it superintendence, direction, and control of elections. The Constitution does not fix the…
12 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Parliamentary Panel Seeks Structural Overhaul of Testing Agency
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, in its 382nd report on the National Testing Agency (NTA), has recommended a continuously updated question bank so papers can be set close to the exam date rather than…
11 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Navi Pillay Wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for Justice
Navi Pillay, an international jurist of Indian Tamil origin born in apartheid-era Durban, has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her career advancing international criminal justice. Descended from indentured…
11 Oct 2026 · GS2 · IR
What 2024 Telecom Rules Require for Internet Suspension Orders
Internet suspensions in India are governed by the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024, which replaced the 2017 Rules framed under the colonial-era…
11 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
US Strikes Russian Diesel Deal After Pressuring India on Oil
The US has pressured India for over a year to cut Russian oil imports, threatening tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian energy. In a surprising reversal, the US has now struck a deal for Russia to supply…
11 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
India-Turkey Ties: Cooperation Persists Despite Kashmir, Pakistan Tensions
India-Turkey relations combine persistent friction over Kashmir with pragmatic, functional cooperation. Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, has repeatedly raised Kashmir at the UN General Assembly, especially after India…
10 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
BRICS Tested on Relevance in a Fragmented World Order
The 18th BRICS Summit, hosted by India in New Delhi, produced the unanimously adopted New Delhi Declaration. It covered trade, finance, UN and WTO reform, AI governance, and West Asia. BRICS originated at the 2009…
10 Oct 2026 · GS2 · IR
Delhi Police Invoke BNSS Section 163 Ahead of Planned Protest
Delhi Police recently invoked Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, the successor to Section 144 CrPC, to deny permission for a planned protest in New Delhi district. The provision empowers…
10 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Debate Resumes on Law's Limits in Ending Untouchability
India's Constitution bans untouchability under Article 17. This ban is backed by the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. This legal system grew from a historic…
9 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Society
Eastern Maritime Corridor Offers India a Russia Oil Route Alternative
India's energy system depends heavily on maritime imports. Nearly 90% oil and roughly half its LNG dependency are met through seaborne trade. Most of this trade, along with most refining and LNG regasification capacity…
9 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
IIT Student Death Renews Debate on Suicide Reporting Ethics
A student's death by suicide at a premier technical institute has renewed debate over how India reports and responds to such deaths. Exam-hall footage and private phone records were circulated publicly within days. This…
9 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Society
India Revives Bilateral Investment Treaties With Shorter Dispute Rules
India is reviving its bilateral investment treaty (BIT) network a decade after it unilaterally terminated most of the 83 BITs it had earlier signed. This followed adverse arbitration awards such as White Industries…
9 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Government Caps Trade Margins on Non-Scheduled Cancer Drugs
The government has capped trade margins on non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines at 30% of MRP. This extends a mechanism first used in 2019 on 42 drugs to all such medicines. Under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013…
9 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · Society
India's Strategic Stakes in the WHO Pandemic Agreement
The WHO Pandemic Agreement (PA), adopted by 124 member-states in 2025, is a new global legal attempt to prevent a repeat of Covid-19 vaccine-access failures. India, a signatory, used its September 2026 remarks at the UN…
8 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Why India's Municipal Property Tax Collection Stays Weak
India's municipal bodies rely heavily on property tax as their main own-source revenue. But collection remains weak. India's cumulative property tax is about 0.15-0.2% of GDP. This compares to 0.6% in middle-income…
8 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Three Years After October 7: Strategic Roots and Regional Fallout
The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. This triggered an Israeli military campaign in Gaza and linked conflicts involving Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran. Hamas's…
8 Oct 2026 · GS2 · IR
Arrest vs Detention: What Indian Law and the Constitution Provide
Indian law distinguishes between 'arrest', a formal act that triggers Article 22's safeguards such as being told the grounds of arrest and being produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, and 'detention', a looser…
8 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
India's Leprosy Elimination Drive Faces Transmission Gaps
India declared leprosy 'eliminated as a public health problem' in 2005, when prevalence fell below 1 case per 10,000 people. This followed the adoption of WHO's multidrug therapy (MDT) under the National Leprosy…
7 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
India, Switzerland Agree to Deepen Defence and Nuclear Ties
India and Switzerland agreed to deepen cooperation in defence production, military exchanges and nuclear energy during the Swiss President's visit. They also agreed to new agreements on migration and young-professional…
7 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
ECI's IT Systems Raise Electoral Accountability Concerns
The Election Commission of India (ECI), a constitutional body under Article 324, manages electoral rolls through a central technology platform called ECINET. Recent revelations show that officials made unauthorised…
7 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Ashok Lavasa: Can the Election Commission untie knots of its own making?
The Election Commission of India (ECI), a three-member body under Article 324 with the CEC and two Election Commissioners historically holding equal power, is facing an unprecedented credibility crisis. Two Election…
7 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
India's Oil Imports Track U.S. Sanctions Pressure, Data Show
India imports over four-fifths of its crude oil. This makes energy security central to its foreign policy. Official data show a recurring pattern. Whenever the US pressured India to cut oil imports from Venezuela, Iran…
6 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Supreme Court to Examine Legislative Privilege vs Free Speech
The Supreme Court has begun hearing a long-pending reference on whether legislative privileges under Articles 105 and 194 can override the fundamental right to free speech under Article 19(1)(a). A seven-judge…
6 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Towards recognising women farmers
Maharashtra's Women Farmers' Empowerment Bill (2026) creates a Woman Farmer Certificate that recognises women as farmers irrespective of land ownership, the first Indian State law to operationalise the land-delinked…
6 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Society
Former CEC S Y Quraishi: The deleted voter is not a new voter
A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls led to roughly 13 crore names disappearing from draft rolls, prompting the Election Commission of India to order a re-enrolment drive across twenty states and Union…
6 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
US Defence Strategy Review Carries Implications For India Ties
A mid-term assessment of the US 2026 National Defense Strategy shows Washington reorganising its global commitments around four priorities: defending the homeland, deterring China along the First Island Chain, securing…
5 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · IR
Legality of Election Commission's Electoral Roll Revision Questioned
The Election Commission of India (ECI), long admired for its impartial conduct of elections, faces unprecedented criticism over its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in several States, with allegations…
5 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Debate Over New Bill to Overhaul Higher Education Regulation
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, now under legislative review, seeks to overhaul India's fragmented higher education regulatory architecture, built historically around the UGC (1956), AICTE…
5 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
Government Data Vastly Undercounts India's Rabies Deaths
India has no single reliable measure of its annual human rabies deaths. Government surveillance under IDSP-IHIP recorded only 54 deaths in 2024, while the civil-registration-based MCCD system, which covers barely a…
5 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
Appointing the Election Commission: An Expert Explains what Constituent Assembly said
Article 324 of the Constitution gives the Election Commission control over elections but does not fix its size. The Commission's strength has changed several times since 1950, resting entirely on presidential orders…
5 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Debate on Child Sexual Abuse Laws and Social Victim-Blaming
A first-person reflection on childhood encounters with inappropriate male attention is prompted by a Delhi High Court direction that a trial judge's personal message of encouragement be delivered to a minor survivor of…
5 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Society
Offline Messaging App Pulled from India App Store Over IT Act Order
Apple removed the Bluetooth-based offline messaging app, built by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, from its India App Store after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology invoked Section 69A of the IT Act…
4 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS3 · Polity
Why India Lacks a Screening Programme for Lung Cancer
Lung cancer has become India's third most common cancer by incidence and a rising share of cancer deaths, yet 93% of cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when five-year survival falls to just 7-18% compared with…
4 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
US-China Summit Signals Managed Rivalry, Tests India's Options
A recent summit between the US and Chinese presidents produced agreements on trade and rare earths and notably warm messaging, but left Taiwan, technology, and the broader strategic rivalry unresolved. This reflects a…
3 Oct 2026 · GS2 · IR
Protests Erupt Over Mass Voter Deletions in Roll Revision
The Election Commission of India has ordered a special outreach drive after approximately 13 crore names were dropped from draft electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The ECI derives its…
3 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Rules framed to standardise appointment of heads, members of various tribunals
The Union Law Ministry has notified rules to operationalise the National Tribunals Commission (NTC), created after Parliament passed the Tribunals Reforms Bill in August following a Supreme Court direction. The NTC will…
3 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Debate Over Criminalising Non-Singing of the National Song
Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and placed within his novel Anandamath, has two halves: secular opening stanzas and later stanzas invoking Hindu goddesses. After the Partition of Bengal in 1905, it…
2 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Polity
Concerns Grow Over Bulk Form 7 Filings in Electoral Roll Revision
India's electoral roll system is governed by Article 324 of the Constitution and operationalised through the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Three forms manage…
2 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Aid may be dead. Long live international development
Global aid flows fell by more than a fifth over the past year, driven chiefly by sweeping cuts to USAID and compounded by retrenchment from other donor countries facing fiscal and political pressures. This has exposed…
2 Oct 2026 · GS2 · IR
Supreme Court Quashes NSA Detention Based on Police Confession
The Supreme Court quashed the National Security Act detention of Mulla Afroz, accused in the 2024 Sambhal mosque-survey violence, holding that a police confession cannot by itself justify preventive detention since such…
2 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
J&K Assembly Revisits Article 370 Amid Statehood Push
Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional position traces back to the 1947 Instrument of Accession, which confined Parliament's authority over the state to defence, foreign affairs and communications. Article 370…
1 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Polity
High Court Extends SC/ST Act's 'Public View' Test to Social Media
The Calcutta High Court has held that the 'public view' requirement under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 extends beyond physical spaces to the digital domain, meaning…
1 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Can India's Exam System Adapt to the AI Era?
An opinion piece reflecting on India's exam culture uses Rabindranath Tagore's century-old critique of rote memorisation, alongside John Dewey's philosophy and Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of learning, to argue that Indian…
1 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Society
Election Commission and Supreme Court Conduct Questioned Over Electoral Roll Revision
India's Election Commission derives its authority from Article 324 of the Constitution. Since 1989, it has functioned as a three-member collegial body. The Chief Election Commissioner enjoys strong security of tenure…
1 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
Debate Revived on Women's Access to Public Space at Night
Recent assaults on young women and girls in Delhi and Bihar have reopened a long-standing question: why must a woman justify her presence outdoors, especially after dark? The Constitution guarantees formal equality…
1 Oct 2026 · GS2, GS1 · Society
Smart Cities Mission Ends, Its Urban Governance Record Scrutinised
The Smart Cities Mission (SCM), launched to modernise urban India through technology-driven interventions, has formally concluded, inviting scrutiny of its actual governance impact. Rather than a universal urban policy…
1 Oct 2026 · GS2 · Polity
GS Paper 3 — Economy, Environment, Science, Security · 101
New Audit Order Mandated for Multi-State Cooperative Societies
The Ministry of Cooperation has notified the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2026 (MSCARO). It used powers under Section 73(6) of the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act…
15 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Government Launches BHAVYA Scheme for Industrial Parks
BHAVYA (Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna) is a central scheme, approved with an outlay of ₹33,660 crore, to build 'plug-and-play' industrial parks across India over six years (FY2026-27 to FY2031-32). It gives financial…
15 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Government Approves Sale of IDBI Bank to Strategic Buyer
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the sale of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank to 10955230 Canada Inc., a unit of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, for about Rs 52,878 crore. The stake being sold comprises…
15 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Retail Inflation Spreads Across Items, Pressuring RBI on Rates
Retail inflation rose to 5.54% in September. This is its highest level in nearly two years. The RBI itself acknowledged evidence of inflation generalisation. This means price pressures are spreading from food and fuel…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Unapproved GM Cotton Traits Spread Despite Regulatory Ban
A large share of India's cotton area now carries genetically modified traits. These include herbicide tolerance and the next-generation Bt gene Vip3A. These traits have never received regulatory approval from the…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
India's Low R&D Spending Hurts Basic Science Research
India's low investment in research, at about 0.64% of GDP, compared with over 3% in the US, Germany and Japan and over 5% in South Korea, is often blamed for its weak record in transformative, Nobel-level science. A…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
A Decade of India's Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility Spending
India's CSR law, under Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, requires companies crossing specific net worth, turnover or profit thresholds to spend 2% of average net profit on social development activities. Over a…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
IMF Urges Developing Nations to Cut Spending Amid Oil Shock
The IMF has warned that low-income, oil-importing developing countries have little choice but to cut spending. The Iran war has driven up global energy and fertiliser prices. These countries already have high debt from…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Maritime Council Becomes Statutory Body, Sets Port Reform Deadlines
The 21st meeting of the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) was held in Mumbai. It was the first meeting since the Council gained statutory status under the Indian Ports Act, 2025. The MSDC was originally set up…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Namami Gange Tightens Industrial Pollution Monitoring Mechanism
Industrial pollution abatement is a core pillar of the Namami Gange Programme. It is built around annual inspection of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) since 2017. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is the…
14 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Fresh Nepal Flash Flood Renews Himalayan Hazard Concerns
The Hindu Kush Himalaya, a 3,500-kilometre mountain system, is warming at roughly 0.3°C per decade, nearly twice the global average, according to IPCC and WMO findings. This rapid warming is accelerating glacial melt…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
Robert E. Hall, Michael Woodford Win 2026 Economics Nobel
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University. They received the prize for building microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Debate Grows on How India Should Adopt and Diffuse AI
The global AI debate mostly focuses on who builds the most powerful models. But the bigger economic story may be about who adopts and diffuses AI effectively. The World Bank's World Development Report 2026 argues that…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
Agri-Photovoltaics Proposed to Raise Farmer Incomes Sharply
India's agriculture has grown since 2014, but farmers' real incomes have grown much slower than needed. The Ashok Dalwai Committee estimated that agricultural GDP must grow at 10.4% per year to double farmers' incomes.…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Concerns Raised Over Kishau Dam's Ecological and Seismic Risks
The Kishau Multipurpose Project is a proposed large dam on the Tons river in the Yamuna basin. It was recently revived after six states and Delhi signed a cost-sharing agreement. The Centre funds most of it. This…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Environment
Why India's Public Wi-Fi Rollout Under PM-WANI Has Lagged
Public Wi-Fi in India has lagged far behind other countries. This is despite the country's leadership in mobile data and digital payments. The idea for an open, interoperable Wi-Fi access system was first proposed in…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Experts Question Removal-Only Approach to Invasive Plants
Invasive alien species such as Prosopis juliflora, Lantana camara and Senna spectabilis have become a major focus of administrative and judicial action in India. Courts and governments order their removal as a solution…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh Declare Drought After Weak Monsoon
A weak southwest monsoon, the poorest since 2015, has pushed Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh into declared drought. Large shares of their taluks and mandals are officially drought-hit. Crops like red gram, cotton…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Geography
PM GatiShakti Completes Five Years of Infrastructure Planning
The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan was launched on 13 October 2021. It is a GIS-based digital platform. It integrates infrastructure planning across ministries and states to cut delays and costs from uncoordinated…
13 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Government Reviews One Year of Pulses Self-Reliance Mission
The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses was launched on 11 October 2025 with a ₹11,440 crore outlay till 2030-31. It aims to make India self-sufficient in pulses. The target is 350 lakh tonnes production and 1,130…
12 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Nobel-Winning Optogenetics Links Berlin Lab to Hyderabad Parasite Research
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel. They discovered light-gated ion channels and developed optogenetics. Optogenetics uses…
12 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
What was the Chemistry Nobel Prize given for? | Explained
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for their work on controlling and amplifying molecular 'handedness'. This property is called chirality. Many molecules exist as…
12 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Why RBI's GDP Growth Forecasts Keep Being Revised
The Reserve Bank of India raised its growth forecast for the current financial year by 40 basis points to 7.1%, continuing a pattern of frequent revisions seen through the year. India's national accounts are compiled by…
11 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
US Probes EU Carbon Border Tax; India Could Gain
The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) charges importers for the carbon dioxide embedded in goods like steel, aluminium and cement, and is expected to raise the effective cost of exporting these goods to the…
11 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
AI Data Centres Strain India's Power Grid, Raise Upgrade Costs
AI-driven data centres are placing new strains on India's power grid, raising both reliability concerns and infrastructure upgrade costs. India's grid is coordinated by Grid-India and five Regional Power Committees…
11 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
GST Council Approves Registration, Refund and Litigation Reforms
The GST Council is a constitutional body under Article 279A. It held its 57th meeting after an earlier meeting had rationalised GST into two main slabs of 5% and 18% with a special 40% rate. This latest meeting shifted…
10 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
US Green Card Curbs May Push Tech Work to India
A recent US Department of Labour decision suspended new and pending Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) applications for eight major technology employers. These include Microsoft, Adobe and Indian IT majors. PERM is…
10 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
India's Greenfield Investment Share Outpaces China's, UNCTAD Report Shows
A greenfield investment is money a foreign firm spends to build a brand-new plant, unit or venture abroad. This is different from buying into an existing firm. A UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report…
10 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
India's Trade Squeezed Between US Tariffs and China Deficit
India's trade position is caught between two opposite forces. India has a trade surplus with the United States and a structural trade deficit with China. The deficit with China is difficult to reverse because many…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
GST Council Approves Reforms to Ease Compliance and Litigation
The 57th GST Council meeting approved a set of process reforms covering registration, refunds, returns, cancellation, and adjudication. The GST Council is a constitutional body under Article 279A, inserted by the 101st…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Why Cement Remains a Hard Barrier to India's Net-Zero Goal
Cement is central to India's construction boom but also a major obstacle to its climate goals. India aims to become an economically developed country by 2047 and reach net-zero emissions by 2070, but cement making is a…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
RBI Hikes Repo Rate, Shifts Stance to Calibrated Tightening
India's monetary policy operates under a formal inflation-targeting framework established by amending the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 in 2016. Section 45ZA empowers the central government to set a CPI inflation…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
India's Rising FDI Inflows Expose Persistent Reform Gaps
India's gross inward FDI reached a record $94.8 billion in FY26. UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2026 ranks India 11th among global FDI destinations after a 44% rise in inflows. Yet India lags peers like the US, France…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
From ‘quantum-enhanced’ to ‘quantum-safe’: Why banks are preparing in advance for the new big threat
Quantum computers use qubits, which can hold a mix of 0 and 1 at once (superposition), unlike classical bits. This lets certain quantum algorithms, such as Shor's algorithm, solve problems like large-number…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
El Niño Set to Peak in December, WMO Warns
El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a Pacific Ocean climate cycle that recurs every two to seven years. The WMO has said the current El Niño is intensifying rapidly and will peak…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai Win 2026 Chemistry Nobel
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai. They showed how homochirality can be recreated artificially. Homochirality is the strong preference of living things for only one mirror-image…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Francis Halzen Wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for IceCube
Belgian-American physicist Francis Halzen won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for conceiving and leading the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. This detector was built from more than 5,000 optical sensors frozen inside one…
9 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Union Cabinet approves ₹10,000-cr SME growth fund to boost manufacturing
The Union Cabinet has approved the SME Growth Fund (SGF). It commits ₹10,000 crore under Para 28 of the Union Budget 2026-27 to provide equity capital to small and medium enterprises. Unlike existing debt-based…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
ISRO Employees Seek Clarity Amid Space Privatisation Debate
India's space sector is going through a contested transition. After the Space Sector Reforms of 2020, IN-SPACe was set up to authorise private participation and NSIL to commercialise ISRO's work. HAL took over serial…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
Species-Specific Recovery Efforts Show Gains Across India's Wildlife
India's wildlife recovery effort has moved from general habitat protection to targeted, species-specific action. The Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme supports recovery for 24 identified species. It is…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Francis Halzen Wins Physics Nobel for IceCube Neutrino Work
Francis Halzen has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for conceiving and building the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. Neutrinos are nearly massless, electrically neutral particles that travel…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Norway Weighs Temporary Ban on Smart Glasses in Public Spaces
Norway is preparing a proposal for a temporary ban on smart glasses use in sensitive public spaces such as schools, healthcare facilities, locker rooms, and beaches. Sales and private use remain allowed. The move…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
NASA, China, Russia Race to Power Moon with Nuclear Reactors
NASA plans a 20 kW nuclear reactor near the moon's south pole by 2030. Russia's reactor for the China-led International Lunar Research Station targets about 10 kW. Nuclear power matters because, unlike solar panels, it…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
RBI Raises Rates Citing Inflation Risks from Supply Shocks
India's monetary policy operates under flexible inflation targeting, established by Section 45ZA of the RBI Act, 1934. The government sets a 4% CPI inflation target every five years, with a tolerance band of 2% to 6%.…
8 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel Win 2026 Medicine Nobel
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel. They won for discovering light-gated ion channels and developing optogenetics. Optogenetics is a…
7 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Rising US Bond Yields Test India's Macroeconomic Resilience
Global bond markets are under pressure. The 10-year US Treasury yield has risen past 5%. It is at its highest level since 2007. The US Federal Reserve keeps rates elevated to tame inflation. This narrows the India-US…
7 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Rewilding of Great Indian Bustards Begins in Rajasthan
Two captive-bred male great Indian bustards (GIB) were released into the wild in Rajasthan's Desert National Park. This marked the first rewilding step under Project GIB, a joint effort of the Environment Ministry, the…
7 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Government Approves Apex Body for Transport and Logistics Planning
India's logistics costs stand at 13-14% of GDP, nearly double the global benchmark of 8%, largely because transport planning has been fragmented across separate ministries for roads, railways, ports, civil aviation, and…
7 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Ministry Notifies 375 Permissible Works Under New Rural Employment Scheme
The Ministry of Rural Development has notified a new Schedule of Permissible Works under the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, VB-G RAM G. This law replaced the older rural employment…
7 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Rare-Disease Drugs Emerge as India's Pharma Opportunity
Rare diseases number about 8,000 worldwide. Over a thousand recognised conditions exist in India. Drug makers have long neglected them. Small patient numbers made treatments unprofitable. The US Orphan Drug Act of 1983…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
New Trade Deals and India's Dependence on US Exports
The US House has passed a bill allowing tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil. This is a fresh threat to India, which sourced over 51% of its crude oil from Russia in July, an all-time high. This follows…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Canal-Top Solar Emerges as India's Land-Free Power Option
Canal-top photovoltaics (CTPV) mounts solar panels on elevated structures over irrigation canals, offering a land-free alternative to ground-mounted solar as land acquisition for renewable projects grows costlier.…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Protein Biosensors Could Speed Up Diagnosis in Medical Emergencies
Protein biosensors are devices that detect specific proteins in blood to catch disease early. They often work before symptoms appear. The idea began in 1962, when biochemist Leland C. Clark, Jr. and microbiologist Champ…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Why Falling AI Token Prices Have Not Cut Enterprise Spending
AI inference (running a trained model) has become dramatically cheaper per token. Stanford's AI Index recorded a fall of over 280 times in querying costs for a GPT-3.5-level model between late 2022 and late 2024. Yet…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Ancient grasslands, once destroyed for development, can take 100 years to grow back
Grasslands, long dismissed as 'wasteland' in Indian land records, are in fact a distinct, stable ecosystem maintained by fire and water-limited conditions that prevent trees from taking over, not an unfinished stage of…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Fossil-Fuel-Dependent Hosts Shape COP31 Climate Summit Agenda
COP31, the next UN climate conference, will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, with an unprecedented split arrangement: Türkiye holds the COP31 presidency while Australia serves as vice-president overseeing negotiations, a…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Environment
India-New Zealand FTA ratified, to come into effect on October 20
The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), ratified recently, enters into force on October 20 and aims to double bilateral trade to about ₹35,000 crore within four to five years, from roughly $1.3 billion in…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Study Splits Urban Warming into Urbanisation and Climate Change
A study using NASA's MODIS satellite data separated two causes of rising city temperatures in India: local urbanisation and wider climate change. It analysed 141 cities from 2003 to 2020. It found cities warming at…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Rising Global Bond Yields Signal Costlier Capital for India
Ten-year government bond yields in the US, France and Japan have risen to their highest levels in two to three decades. India's 10-year G-Sec yield has risen by roughly half as much. This is unusual because it no longer…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
IIT-Gandhinagar Team Achieves India's Longest Free-Space Quantum Link
Scientists from IIT-Gandhinagar, the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N), and Bengaluru-based QNu Labs demonstrated India's first free-space Quantum Key Distribution…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
India's First Blue Bond Launched Under Sagarmala Programme
Sagarmala Finance Corporation Ltd (SMFCL) is preparing India's first blue bond, aiming to raise up to ₹1,000 crore for maritime projects under the Sagarmala Programme, launched in 2015 under the PM GatiShakti framework.…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Make in India at 12 Years: Manufacturing's Share Still Flat
Twelve years after its September 2014 launch, an assessment of the Make in India initiative across twelve metrics was completed. These metrics covered growth, investment, employment, and exports. The assessment shows…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Study Warns River-Linking Project May Spread Invasive Species
The National River Linking Project (NRLP), which proposes connecting 37 river basins through 30 links to transfer water from 'surplus' to 'deficit' basins, faces a new ecological concern beyond its well-known…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Tigress Translocated to West Bengal's Buxa Reserve for Reintroduction
On October 2, 2026, a three-year-old tigress, T138, was translocated from Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve and released into West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve, starting a phased plan to rebuild a self-sustaining tiger…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Hegemann, Nagel, Deisseroth Share Medicine Nobel for Optogenetics
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel, and Karl Deisseroth for discovering light-gated ion channels and developing optogenetics, a technique that lets scientists…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Bird islands: On India’s bustard conservation programme
The release of two captive-bred Great Indian Bustards at Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, marks progress in a captive breeding programme that now holds 97 birds, with 29 chicks born this year. The species, protected…
6 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
RBI Weighs First Rate Hike in Years as Inflation Rises
The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee appears set to raise the repo rate for the first time since early 2023, ending nearly two years of monetary accommodation. The anticipated move reflects converging pressures: domestic…
5 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Two Captive-Bred Great Indian Bustards Released Into the Wild
The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), classified Critically Endangered by the IUCN with fewer than 150 wild individuals, is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Appendix I of CITES. Its…
5 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Chhattisgarh Tiger Reserve Finds Large-Scale Tree Girdling, Encroachment
Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR) has documented girdling, a slow bark-stripping method that kills trees, of over 2,500 trees in the Karka area, once part of the erstwhile Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary.…
4 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Environment
Ecologists Seek Wider Monitoring Network Amid El Niño Stress
India is entering a difficult post-monsoon period after this year's southwest monsoon closed with a rainfall deficit, with a strengthening El Niño expected to keep most of the country dry. El Niño works by weakening…
4 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Environment
How Companies Monitor AI Agents That Exceed Their Authority
Since late September, OpenAI has disclosed a series of incidents in which its AI agents gained unauthorised access to government websites in Australia and the US while performing routine tasks, following similar…
4 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
Captive-Bred Great Indian Bustards Released Into Desert National Park
The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, is one of India's most critically endangered birds. Desert National Park in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer and Barmer districts is…
4 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
India Demonstrates First Free-Space Quantum Key Distribution Link
QNu Labs, BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar demonstrated India's first free-space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link over 5.56 km, achieving a Quantum Bit Error Rate below 5% and secure key rates of 230-260 bps, integrated…
4 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Economists Propose Carbon-Pricing-Linked Climate Reparations
A forthcoming book by a University of Chicago economist and two Nobel-winning co-authors proposes that OECD countries pay citizens of developing countries directly for climate damage, calculated using the Social Cost of…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Environment
Rescue act: On tiger reintroduction in West Bengal’s Buxa
Buxa Tiger Reserve in North Bengal, declared in 1983, has received its first tigress under India's Tiger Reintroduction Programme. The tigress was translocated from Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar, following years of…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Environment
Government Readies Revised Model Bilateral Investment Treaty
India's Model Bilateral Investment Treaty, adopted in 2015 after a series of costly arbitration losses including the White Industries award of 2011, is now under revision following an announcement in the Union Budget…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
AI Company Consults Religious Scholars on Machine Consciousness
A leading AI company has been holding confidential, NDA-bound meetings with religious scholars from Jewish, Catholic, Sikh, evangelical and Vedantic traditions to explore how centuries of moral reasoning could guide the…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS4 · S&T
Private Indian Startup's Thermal-Imaging Satellite Launched via Rideshare Mission
India's 2020 space-sector reforms and the Indian Space Policy, 2023 shifted the country from an ISRO-only model to an ecosystem that includes private satellite builders, with IN-SPACe acting as the single-window…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3 · S&T
Green Energy Corridor Phase-III Targets Renewable Transmission Bottlenecks
India's renewable energy capacity has crossed 300 GW, the third largest in the world, but transmission constraints and grid-security concerns have forced operators to curtail solar power during peak generation months.…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
To cash in on next tech boom, India needs the right chips
India's semiconductor strategy, built around the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, and the IndiaAI Mission, has delivered a dozen approved projects and large committed…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Manufacturing Output Rises but Employment Lags Behind
India's registered manufacturing sector continues to post healthy growth in output and employment, but this masks a deeper structural problem. Annual Survey of Industries data for 2024-25 shows wages growing slower than…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Scientists Warn of Severe El Niño, Call for Ecological Data
An unusually intense El Niño is developing in the Pacific Ocean for 2026-27, with global agencies assigning high confidence to it becoming a strong to very strong event and sea surface temperature anomalies potentially…
3 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
IMD's Monsoon Forecast Falls Short Despite Technical Accuracy
The India Meteorological Department's two seasonal monsoon forecasts, issued in April and May, pointed to a dry monsoon due to an anticipated strong El Niño. The season closed close to the IMD's conservative 'below…
2 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
GOBARdhan Scheme Launched to Scale Up Compressed Biogas Production
The GOBARdhan Scheme, launched as a restructured Central Sector Scheme with a ₹23,731 crore outlay for FY2026-27 to FY2035-36, consolidates India's fragmented Compressed Biogas (CBG) policy under a single nodal…
2 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
US Treasury Yields Hit 25-Year High: What It Means
US Treasury yields, the effective interest rates the US government pays to borrow money, have risen to their highest levels in about 25 years across short and long durations alike. A bond's yield moves inversely to its…
2 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Best of Both Sides: Don’t wait for consensus on AI governance
Global efforts to govern frontier AI remain fragmented across three competing models. Industry self-regulation is represented by the recently signed Accord on Super Intelligence at the White House, a voluntary, 'morally…
2 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · S&T
Why India needs more transmission, battery storage for green energy push
The government has approved the third phase of the Green Energy Corridor (GEC-III), with an outlay of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, to enable evacuation of up to 135 GW of renewable energy. For the first time, the scheme includes…
2 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
India's 2026 Southwest Monsoon Ends With Sharp Regional Deficit
India's 2026 southwest monsoon ended as the driest in over a decade, with season-wide rainfall falling well below the Long Period Average (LPA), the fifty-year mean from 1971 to 2020. A season is normal between 96% and…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
India-EFTA Trade Pact Completes First Year
The India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), involving Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, completed its first year after entering into force on October 1, 2025. EFTA offered tariff…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
India's Industrial Output Growth Accelerates Ahead of Festive Season
India's industrial growth has strengthened through the current financial year, with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rising 8% in August, its second-fastest pace since a revised series began in April 2024, and…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Moving Beyond Production Credit to Finance Agri Value Chains
India's agricultural credit system was historically built to finance production, through Regional Rural Banks, cooperative institutions, and the Kisan Credit Card scheme, and this delivered food security over six…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
India's Rising Household Debt and Falling Savings Buffer
India's household debt has risen steadily, from 39.2% of GDP in March 2021 to 45.5% by September 2025, driven by credit cards, personal loans, digital lending, and buy-now-pay-later schemes alongside traditional housing…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Government Launches Guidelines for National Coastal Mission 2.0
The Union Environment Ministry has launched Guidelines to implement National Coastal Mission 2.0 (NCM 2.0), a Central Sector Scheme with an approved outlay of ₹767 crore running till 2030-31 across nine coastal states…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Environment
Cabinet Approves Rabi Crop MSP for 2027-28 Season
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Minimum Support Price for six Rabi crops for the 2027-28 season: wheat, barley, gram, masur, rapeseed and mustard, and safflower. MSP is recommended by the…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Cabinet Clears Green Energy Corridor Phase-III Transmission Scheme
India's Green Energy Corridor (GEC) scheme funds intra-state transmission infrastructure to evacuate renewable power from generation-rich states to demand centres. GEC-I (2015-16) targeted 24 GW evacuation and GEC-II…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Government Launches First Offshore Mineral Block Auction in Andaman Sea
The Ministry of Mines has launched India's first auction of offshore mineral blocks, covering two blocks in the Andaman Sea, under the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, as amended in 2023…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
Study Pegs India's Ayush Services Economy at US$36.92 Billion
A study by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) has produced the first nationally scaled, establishment-level estimate of India's Ayush services economy, valuing it at US$36.92 billion in…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy
Uttarakhand Installs First Glacial Lake Early-Warning System
Uttarakhand has begun installing its first real-time early-warning system for a glacial lake, at Vasundhara Tal in Chamoli, moving beyond earlier mapping exercises toward continuous monitoring. The system combines a…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS1 · Geography
UN Declares Sea-Level-Hit States Keep Statehood, Borders
The UN General Assembly adopted its first declaration on sea level rise, addressing what happens to a country's statehood and maritime boundaries if its coastline shrinks or disappears. Under the 1933 Montevideo…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Environment
Debate Over Percentage-Based Pricing for UPI Merchant Fee
UPI, launched in 2016 by NPCI, was kept free for merchants from 2020 through a taxpayer-funded bank incentive scheme that grew rapidly, prompting a new 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate, capped at Rs 300, on merchant UPI…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3 · Economy
Judicial Reforms and India's Intellectual Property Ecosystem
India's intellectual property regime was substantially reshaped by the 2005 amendment to the Patents Act, 1970, which reintroduced product patents for chemical and pharmaceutical substances to meet TRIPS obligations…
1 Oct 2026 · GS3, GS2 · Economy