Current affairs — 23 October 2026

Prelims pointers

• SGB 2018-19 Series-II was issued on October 23, 2018 under a Government of India notification dated October 8, 2018.
• The Gold Bond is repayable after eight years from issue, placing final redemption on October 23, 2026.
• The redemption price is based on the simple average closing price of 999-purity gold for the previous three business days.
• India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd publishes the gold closing prices used for the redemption-price calculation.
• RBI fixed the final redemption price at ₹14,425 per SGB unit using prices from October 19, 21 and 22, 2026.

Prelims pointers

• IIT-Madras will study small data centres for AI inference in agriculture, space, manufacturing, health and law.
• The proposed ‘pico centres’ use a federated, distributed model developed through frugal engineering for different end users.
• Bodhan AI is a Ministry of Education-funded Centre of Excellence for AI in Education incubated at IIT-M as a Section 8 company.
• CeRAI and The Better India plan to produce 500 videos on responsible and effective uses of AI across India.
• IIT-M launched a multilingual AI-evaluation platform using more than 50 metrics and 100 sub-metrics.

Prelims pointers

• The discrepancies concerned electoral rolls for Assembly constituency 127, Pilibhit, where some EPIC searches displayed another elector's details.
• An operator entered 13,779 Form-8 applications between May 31 and August 29, 2026, without corresponding forms in office records.
• Of the 13,779 Form-8 entries examined, 10,470 were approved and 3,309 were rejected.
• The Election Commission directed legal action under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
• The District Election Officer was told to review Form 6 and Form 7 submissions from April 10 to October 21, 2026 and report within one day.

Prelims pointers

• The Niño 3.4 region in the central-equatorial Pacific is the primary index area for defining phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
• Five consecutive months with a Niño 3.4 temperature anomaly above 0.5°C signify onset of the warm El Niño phase.
• A 90-day average anomaly of 1.5–1.9°C is classified as strong, while an anomaly exceeding 2°C is classified as very strong.
• The 2026–27 El Niño onset was declared on June 6 and was projected to peak in December with a seasonal anomaly of 3.8°C.
• On October 5, 2026, Niño 3.4 reached 30.06°C, the first recorded sea-surface temperature above 30°C in that region.

Prelims pointers

• The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage operates under the UNFCCC financial mechanism and covers economic and non-economic climate-related losses.
• Governments agreed to create the Fund at COP27 in 2022, and its Governing Instrument was adopted at COP28 in 2023.
• The Fund’s $342 million start-up allocation reserves at least half for small island developing States and least developed countries.
• The Fund’s first earmarking for a specific country set aside $21.6 million for Nepal, including $1.6 million in oversight fees.
• Nepal estimated at least $2.69 billion in economic losses and at least $4.71 billion in recovery needs after the August 2026 floods.

Prelims pointers

• India and Poland elevated their ties to a strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Warsaw visit in August 2024.
• The bilateral action plan covered technological cooperation, cybersecurity and the space sector, according to Donald Tusk.
• Tusk cited India's UPI and Poland's mObywatel digital-identity application as examples of digital public-service expertise.
• He identified AI applications in industrial automation, data analysis, diagnostics and infrastructure management.
• Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla joined the 2025 Axiom-4 mission.

Prelims pointers

• Russia, Ukraine and the United States planned trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November 2026.
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the negotiations had been at a standstill since the beginning of the year.
• U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo on October 20, 2026.
• Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on October 21, after which Moscow and Kyiv voiced readiness for direct talks.
• Putin said the talks should address security arrangements for a final peace deal rather than a short truce.

Prelims pointers

• GRAP Stage I covers Delhi AQI 201–300, Stage II 301–400, Stage III 401–450 and Stage IV an AQI above 450.
• The Environment Ministry first notified GRAP in January 2017 pursuant to Supreme Court directions on graded air-quality measures.
• The Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority initially implemented GRAP, before CAQM replaced it in 2021.
• From November 1, 2026, to January 31, 2027, Delhi’s notification bars non-Delhi-registered motor vehicles below BSVI standards, subject to stated exemptions.
• Authorised parking charges are to double from November 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027, except at parking facilities owned and managed by DMRC.

Prelims pointers

• France and Britain staged their first joint air-force exercise simulating a nuclear strike.
• The bilateral exercise was codenamed Rummy, according to the countries’ defence ministries.
• Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets participated alongside French Rafale aircraft.
• The simulated nuclear-strike exercise took place over the Mediterranean Sea.
• The drill used no actual nuclear weapons and aimed to improve coordination between western Europe’s two nuclear powers.

Prelims pointers

• Oil prices reached a near six-month high after attacks on Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure renewed global supply concerns.
• WTI crude was up 1.81% at $101.26 per barrel, while India’s crude basket averaged $119.99 on Friday.
• PPAC data put the Indian crude basket’s month-to-date average at $120.08 per barrel, above RBI’s $95 projection for the fiscal second half.
• Axis Bank economists estimated that each $10-per-barrel crude increase, with pump prices unchanged, would raise public-sector support by 20 basis points.
• Adani Total Gas raised CNG prices by ₹4.45 per kg and said spot LNG costs had risen from $10-12 per MMBtu in February to about $30.

Prelims pointers

• RBI high-frequency data through October 19 showed rice, wheat, major pulses, mustard oil and palm oil prices increasing.
• September 2026 inflation was 6.1% in rural areas and 4.9% in urban areas, compared with 5.2% and 4.3% respectively in August.
• Headline CPI inflation reached a 23-month high of 5.5% year-on-year in September, up from 4.8% in August.
• WPI inflation in the new 2022-23 base series rose from 9.9% in August to its first double-digit rate of 11.4% in September.
• The IMF raised India's 2026-27 growth projection by 60 basis points to 7%, citing domestic demand and services momentum.

Prelims pointers

• Net FDI, the difference between total direct investment entering and leaving India, was positive by $3.3 billion in August 2026.
• Gross FDI into India was $11.1 billion in August 2026, down 24% from July but nearly 68% above August 2025.
• The United States, Singapore and Mauritius were the major source countries, together accounting for about 72% of FDI inflows.
• Total outflows reached $7.7 billion in August, with repatriation by foreign firms rather than Indian outward investment driving the rise.
• Financial, communication and computer services plus manufacturing accounted for around 73% of FDI equity inflows in April-August 2026.

Prelims pointers

• The proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project has a stated capacity of 11,200 MW.
• Police said around 150–200 protesters gathered at Dite-Dime near Geku at about 7 a.m. during the 12-hour bandh.
• The shutdown was observed across Siang and Upper Siang districts and in parts of East Siang district.
• Protesters demanded the release of ten activists, reinstatement of suspended gaon buras and withdrawal of pre-feasibility activities and deployed forces.
• The Arunachal Pradesh government said the project is primarily intended to store and manage Siang basin water amid concern over China’s proposed upstream mega dam.

Prelims pointers

• The judgment was delivered by a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu.
• Section 125-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 covers false information or concealment in a candidate’s nomination affidavit.
• An offence under Section 125-A is non-cognisable and bailable, with punishment of six months’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
• The Supreme Court held that Section 195 of the CrPC does not prevent cognisance under Section 125-A on a private person’s complaint.
• Section 125-A was inserted in August 2002; Section 195 of the CrPC was amended in April 2006 without applying its restriction to Section 125-A.

Prelims pointers

• The upgraded attendance system adds liveness detection and safeguards against cloning and tampering.
• Its AI photo de-duplication module identifies suspicious or repeated photographs across attendance records.
• When suspicious entries are detected, the wage list and Fund Transfer Order are automatically withheld until checks are completed.
• Attendance can be recorded offline where network connectivity is unavailable at the worksite.
• The Minister reported nearly 46 crore person-days, of which approximately 40 crore were recorded through face authentication.

Prelims pointers

• The Basel III leverage ratio is the capital measure divided by the exposure measure, expressed as a percentage.
• The minimum leverage ratio is 4% for a domestic systemically important bank and 3.5% for other banks.
• A G-SIB branch in India must maintain 3.5% plus its applicable G-SIB leverage-ratio buffer.
• Total leverage-ratio exposure comprises on-balance-sheet, derivative, securities-financing-transaction and off-balance-sheet exposures.
• Banks must publicly disclose the Basel III leverage ratio quarterly on both standalone and consolidated bases.

Prelims pointers

• President Droupadi Murmu addressed a Bastar Dussehra public programme at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, on October 23, 2026.
• The President described Bastar Dussehra as a symbol of Chhattisgarh’s cultural pride and collective faith, marked by participation of the entire community.
• She said the festival’s rituals foster a sense of connection and kinship among different sections of society.
• The President noted accelerated initiatives to provide financial support to tribal entrepreneurs and connect them with markets.
• Before the programme, she met local Manjhi and Chalki in the Muriya Darbar, visited an exhibition, and performed pooja at Maa Danteshwari Temple.

Prelims pointers

• INDRA 2026 was a bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy and the Russian Federation Navy.
• INS Sahyadri departed Vladivostok in the Russian Federation on October 20, 2026 after the exercise concluded.
• The exercise comprised two phases: a harbour phase and a sea phase.
• The harbour phase included cross-deck visits, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges and operational-synchronisation activities.
• The sea phase involved coordinated manoeuvring, integrated communications, helicopter operations and medical-evacuation drills.

Prelims pointers

• C-DAC is an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• C-DAC and Bank of India signed their emerging-technology and quantum financial innovation MoU on October 22, 2026.
• The partners will explore quantum-inspired and quantum-safe technologies for security, trust, resilience and decision-making in banking.
• The collaboration will demonstrate proofs of concept in secure sandbox environments and benchmark emerging approaches against existing systems.
• The MoU also covers artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, digital identity, fraud analysis and secure data sharing.

Prelims pointers

• C-DOT and IIT (BHU), Varanasi signed an MoU to establish C-DOT’s sixth Centre of Excellence.
• C-DOT is the telecom research and development centre of the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Communications.
• The centre will focus on wireless communications, quantum technologies, cybersecurity and AI-driven communication systems.
• Named research areas include 5G Advanced/6G, very large-scale MIMO and integrated sensing and communication.
• C-DOT’s existing CoE collaborations include IIT Kanpur, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Roorkee, IIT Hyderabad and IISc Bengaluru through FSID.

Prelims pointers

• The Chintan Shivir sought a strategy for achieving US$250 billion in engineering-goods exports by 2030.
• India’s merchandise and services exports grew 14% year-on-year to US$476.20 billion during April–September 2026–27.
• Engineering exports crossed US$70 billion in the first six months of FY 2026–27, registering nearly 20% growth year-on-year.
• The discussions covered Quality Control Orders, sustainability-related trade measures and climate-linked market-access requirements.
• Joint Secretary Vimal Anand asked EEPC India to prepare a white paper on the coverage, rationale and industry impact of QCOs.

Prelims pointers

• IPRD-2026 will be held from November 3 to 5, 2026 at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.
• The Indian Navy organises the annual strategic-level dialogue with the National Maritime Foundation as knowledge partner and principal organiser.
• The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative was promulgated at the 14th East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019.
• MAHASAGAR expands to Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions.
• The conference will include five professional thematic sessions and contributions from experts representing 18 Indo-Pacific countries.

Prelims pointers

• The National Sample Survey Office, under MoSPI, proposed modifications to the PLFS sampling design beginning in January 2027.
• A separate Second Stage Stratum will identify households containing at least one digital platform worker.
• The revised design will have four Second Stage Strata in rural areas and five in urban areas, with 14 households surveyed in each selected First Stage Unit.
• New questions will cover own-use production, unpaid household and caregiving activities, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work.
• MoSPI invited comments from policymakers, researchers, academic institutions and the public within 15 days of October 23, 2026.

Prelims pointers

• The RBI circular delegates compounding powers for specified overseas-investment, borrowing, lending and guarantee contraventions to select Regional Offices.
• Overseas-investment applications are routed by the UIN prefix of the foreign entity, overseas joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary.
• The listed Regional Offices for UIN-based routing are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.
• If an overseas-investment contravention has no allotted UIN, the application goes to CEFA at the RBI’s Central Office in Mumbai.
• The RBI issued the circular under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Prelims pointers

• RBI issued the Second Amendment Directions, 2026 under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The amended Chapter IV on minimum capital requirements for operational risk takes effect on 1 April 2027.
• Paragraph 29 and Table 8 address the Business Indicator constituents ILDC, SC and FC.
• Banks must compute operational-risk capital consistently with Table 8 when financial-statement presentation differs from the Directions.
• Relevant interest-rate derivative assets are captured at positive fair value, not notional value, and negative fair value is not subtracted.

Prelims pointers

• RBI issued the Commercial Banks – Forthcoming Instructions Directions, 2025 on November 28, 2025.
• Chapter IV of the 2025 Directions prescribed minimum capital requirements for operational risk.
• The revised Basel III capital-adequacy framework for covered commercial banks is to take effect from April 1, 2027.
• Small Finance Banks, Payment Banks and Regional Rural Banks are excluded from the commercial-bank coverage stated in the release.
• The Second Amendment specifies the Basel III SA implementation date, maps Business Indicator components indicatively, and incorporates additional clarifications.

Prelims pointers

• The October 2026 RBI Bulletin contains two speeches, four articles and current statistics.
• A cumulative 125-basis-point repo-rate reduction was associated with a 93-basis-point decline in fresh-loan WALR from February 2025 to March 2026.
• Of the 93-basis-point fall in fresh-loan WALR, the interest-rate effect contributed 80 basis points and the composition effect 13 basis points.
• The NBFC sector recorded double-digit year-on-year credit growth at end-December 2025, while NPA ratios continued to decline.
• The state-level nowcasting framework combined night-time lights and Google Trends for Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat to estimate quarterly GSVA growth.

Prelims pointers

• Applicants will have to submit separate proof of address, age and identity.
• Applicants would have 15 days instead of seven to complete the learner’s-licence process.
• A safe-driving tutorial of at least 30 minutes would become part of the proposed process.
• Proposed Form 2A would consolidate renewal, duplicate licence and personal-detail change services.
• The draft proposes no fee for changing a licence holder’s name, address or other recorded details.