Current affairs — 31 October 2026

Prelims pointers

• SGB 2021-22 Series VII had an issue date of November 2, 2021.
• Premature redemption may be permitted after the fifth year from the bond's issue date.
• Premature redemption is available on a date on which interest is payable.
• The November 2, 2026 redemption price was fixed at ₹14,167 per SGB unit.
• The price used the simple average for October 28, 29 and 30, 2026, based on IBJA-published closing prices of 999-purity gold.

Prelims pointers

• Sugar's Minimum Selling Price has remained ₹31 per kg since 2019, while the sugarcane FRP rose from ₹2,750 to ₹3,650 per tonne.
• The October 22, 2026 direction barred ethanol production from sugarcane juice, syrup and B-heavy molasses in Ethanol Supply Year 2026-27.
• Karnataka's cane-based distilleries earned ₹5,803.70 crore from ethanol in 2025-26, almost entirely from juice, syrup and B-heavy molasses routes.
• The Chief Minister sought restoration of the FRP base recovery to 9.50% so farmers in low-recovery areas were not penalised.
• A Price Stabilisation Fund was sought as recommended by the NITI Aayog Task Force and the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

Prelims pointers

• Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary sought sufficient Ganga water for drinking, irrigation and industry, including under water-sharing and Farakka agreements.
• He said the nearly 25-year Bihar–Jharkhand dispute over Sone river water was resolved with Bihar securing a 75% share.
• Bihar’s silt-management policy promotes scientific use of silt from the Ganga and other rivers for public use and infrastructure.
• Choudhary said an agreement would be signed with NHAI for silt use and proposed an aerial survey of river flow and accumulation.
• The State’s stated aim is to create employment opportunities for one crore people, with optimum water-resource use playing a key role.

Prelims pointers

• The report said 16,10,311 bulk appeals challenged decisions that had restored voters to West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the SIR.
• The Representation of the People Act was described as recognising the CEO, DEO, ERO and AERO as electoral-roll authorities.
• In its October 26 Supreme Court affidavit, the Election Commission said the appeals had not previously been brought to its notice.
• About 700 judicial officers restored 32,77,360 voters from roughly 60 lakh doubtful and pending cases and rejected 27.23 lakh.
• The Congress demanded cancellation of the appeals and an IT audit disclosing the date, time and process through which they were filed.

Prelims pointers

• GSLV-F18 launched NVS-03 from Sriharikota and placed it into the intended geosynchronous transfer orbit 18 minutes after lift-off.
• NVS-03 weighs 2,250 kg and is the third satellite in the next-generation system intended to continue IRNSS or NavIC services.
• The satellite carries an indigenous atomic clock along with procured atomic clocks and adds L1 to the existing L5 and S signals.
• NVS-03 has a planned mission life of 12 years and covers India plus a region extending about 1,500 km beyond the Indian landmass.
• ISRO said NVS-03 joined three working satellites and restored NavIC to its minimum operational configuration of four satellites.

Prelims pointers

• The October 29, 2026 glacial lake outburst flood originated at Shintaphu Tsho in the Laya area of northwestern Bhutan’s Gasa district.
• Flooding along the Mochhu damaged roads, bridges and public infrastructure in two districts, while officials reported no human casualties.
• A large artificial lake formed near Taktsemakhang, about 2,000 feet downstream of Laya, creating concern about another sudden outburst.
• The flood damaged two vital roads in Gasa and swept away a Bailey bridge in Punakha that was built in 2022 with Government of India support.
• The Mochhu and Phochhu meet in Punakha to form the Punatsangchhu, which flows along the Assam–West Bengal border as the Sonkosh River.

Prelims pointers

• NVS-03 flew with three pyro valves already open to bypass the propulsion-system problem encountered by NVS-02.
• The NVS-02 panel found that the drive signal did not reach the oxidiser-line pyro valve of the orbit-raising engine.
• The most likely NVS-02 cause was disengagement of at least one contact in each of the connector’s main and redundant paths.
• A national-level committee chaired by former ISRO chief Kiran Kumar validated the open-valve approach after vibration and shock tests.
• ISRO plans NVS-04 in five months and NVS-05 in 10 months to strengthen the NavIC constellation.

Prelims pointers

• GSLV-F18 successfully carried NVS-03 and placed the navigation satellite into its designated injection orbit.
• NVS-03 restored NavIC to its minimum operational configuration of four satellites.
• NavIC is India’s independent regional and indigenous satellite navigation system.
• The second-generation NVS-03 carries an indigenous atomic clock together with procured atomic clocks.
• Listed civilian applications include real-time tracking of trains, vehicles and shipping vessels.

Prelims pointers

• COP17 to the Convention on Biological Diversity met in Yerevan, Armenia and involved nearly 200 countries.
• The 2030 biodiversity goals include protecting 30% of Earth’s land and oceans and addressing pollution and invasive species.
• Fossil fuels, intensive agriculture and overfishing were cited as activities supported by incentives harmful to nature.
• Design questions concerning the Cali Fund, intended to attract corporate conservation contributions, remained unresolved.
• Ecuador defeated Panama in a secret vote and was selected to host the next biodiversity talks in 2028.

Prelims pointers

• NVS-03 is a navigation satellite with a 12-year mission life, injected into geosynchronous transfer orbit by GSLV-F18.
• NavIC needs at least four active satellites for positioning, navigation and timing services; NVS-03 restored that minimum configuration.
• NVS-03 carries an indigenous rubidium atomic clock developed by ISRO’s Space Applications Centre alongside imported clocks.
• The satellite transmits in L1, L5 and S bands; L1 is widely used in commercial GPS receivers and makes NavIC easier for mobile chipsets to access.
• NavIC is designed to cover India and 1,500 km beyond its boundary, with an open public service and an encrypted restricted service.

Prelims pointers

• For the new 15-day period, petrol export duty was cut to nil while domestic petrol and diesel excise rates were unchanged.
• Diesel’s export levy rose by ₹3 per litre, from ₹8.5 to ₹11.5 per litre.
• The aviation turbine fuel export levy rose by 50 paise, from ₹10.5 to ₹11 per litre.
• Kpler put India’s October diesel exports at 700 kilo barrels per day, the highest since September 2025.
• The government has reviewed export levies fortnightly since March 27, using average international benchmark fuel prices since the preceding review.

Prelims pointers

• Swift launched on November 20, 2004, to search for gamma-ray bursts and supernovas.
• Its final tally exceeded 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and included 1,400 exploding stars.
• Intense solar activity increased atmospheric drag and caused Swift’s low-Earth orbit to decay faster than usual.
• Katalyst Space’s three-armed Link robot came no closer than 7-9 miles from Swift and reentered in September.
• Most of the one-and-a-half-ton telescope was expected to burn up, although tungsten components and mirror parts could survive reentry.

Prelims pointers

• PRAGYA is a small doughnut-shaped tokamak built by Pranos Fusion to test plasma control and superconducting magnets.
• The startup expects to finalise the blueprint for its larger PRANIK tokamak in 2027, while electricity production remains a later step.
• Fusion commonly joins deuterium and tritium into helium and a fast neutron at temperatures around 100 million°C.
• Tokamaks use powerful magnets to keep superheated plasma away from solid walls and hot enough for fusion.
• IPR manages India’s ADITYA and SST-1 tokamaks and is the domestic nodal agency for India’s contributions to ITER.

Prelims pointers

• Project 108 will place 108 jangchub chortens along a 12-km stretch of the Mau Chhu River at Gelephu.
• Most chortens are to contain Buddhist relics established as having originated in India.
• The Central Monastic Body of Bhutan is the country’s principal institutional carrier of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
• A jangchub chorten commemorates the Buddha’s enlightenment and symbolises the triumph of wisdom over ignorance.
• The blueprint specifies 15-metre-tall chortens positioned 108 metres apart, with 40,000 trained volunteers involved.

Prelims pointers

• Prshant Lahoti's Hyderabad talk covered seven centuries of cartography in 35 minutes.
• His collection ranged from early Indian pilgrim maps to present-day Google Maps.
• An early Indian cosmographic conception portrayed the world as a circular island called Jambudvipa.
• The Ptolemy world map was based on place descriptions collected in Ptolemy's book Geography.
• Dutch trader and spy Jan Huygen van Linschoten obtained Portuguese mapping information and published it in a book.

Prelims pointers

• The Ganges water-sharing treaty was signed on December 12, 1996 for 30 years and expires on December 12, 2026.
• The treaty governs India-Bangladesh sharing at the Farakka Barrage during the January-to-May lean season.
• The two countries discuss issues concerning 54 shared rivers through the Joint Rivers Commission established in 1972.
• The National Citizen Party was formed in February 2025 by leaders of the student-led July-August 2024 movement.
• Japan supports Bangladesh’s Matarbari deep-sea port through JICA and has promoted connectivity linking the region with India’s northeast.

Prelims pointers

• The Quad Foreign Ministers represented India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
• Their October 31, 2026 meeting was held in Atlanta on the sidelines of a G20 meeting.
• The joint statement expressed grave concern over economic coercion, including arbitrary export restrictions.
• The ministers said non-market policies that cause overcapacity can disrupt global supply chains in critical industries.
• The Quad statement did not name a country, although the article described it as veiled criticism of China.

Prelims pointers

• The People’s Plan Campaign 2026-27 was launched on 2 October 2026 and supports participatory Panchayat development planning.
• The Ministry has run PPC since 2018 under the theme Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas.
• The Sixteenth Finance Commission recommended ₹4,35,236 crore for duly constituted rural local bodies in 28 States for 2026-31.
• The Panchayati Raj Ministry and CESL agreed to establish EV charging and battery-swapping stations on Panchayat land.
• CESL is a wholly owned subsidiary of EESL under the Ministry of Power.

Prelims pointers

• EPFO announced that its New Delhi event would mark the organisation's 74th Foundation Day.
• Automatic settlement was planned for eligible inoperative EPF accounts with balances up to ₹1,000.
• EPFO Services through WhatsApp was among the initiatives scheduled for launch at the event.
• Bhavishya Nidhi Awards 2026 were to recognise Regional and Zonal Offices as well as individual officers and employees.
• Members of EPFO's Central Board of Trustees were among the stakeholders expected to attend.

Prelims pointers

• The Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak was awarded to 490 personnel for 2026.
• The medal was instituted by a Ministry of Home Affairs notification dated 1 February 2024.
• Eligible organisations include State and UT police forces, CAPFs, CPOs, the National Security Guard and Assam Rifles.
• Recognition categories include operations, investigation, intelligence service and government forensic-science work.
• The medal is announced annually on 31 October, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary.

Prelims pointers

• The additional tax-devolution instalment released on 31 October 2026 totalled ₹1,09,019 crore.
• It was released in addition to regular monthly devolution and was the financial year's second additional instalment.
• The stated purposes included accelerating State capital spending and financing development or welfare expenditure.
• Uttar Pradesh received ₹19,208 crore, the largest State allocation shown in the release's table.
• Bihar received ₹10,845 crore, while Madhya Pradesh received ₹8,010 crore.

Prelims pointers

• Delhi's monthly average AQI for October 2026 was 166, compared with 223 in October 2025.
• Delhi's average AQI from 1 January to 31 October 2026 was 167.
• January-October 2026 had 220 Good-to-Moderate days, defined as days with average AQI below 200.
• The same period had 84 Poor-to-Severe+ days, defined as days with average AQI above 200.
• Average PM2.5 from 1 January to 29 October 2026 was 69 µg/m³, while average PM10 was 171 µg/m³.

Prelims pointers

• NMMSS provides one lakh fresh scholarships each year to eligible Class IX students who clear the State or UT selection examination.
• The scholarship is ₹12,000 per year and is transferred directly to eligible students' bank accounts through DBT.
• Eligible school categories include State government, government-aided and local-self-government schools.
• Selection-test applicants need at least 55% in Class VII, with a five-percentage-point relaxation for SC and ST students.
• An applicant's parental income must not exceed ₹3.50 lakh per annum.

Prelims pointers

• Vidyanjali is a school-volunteer initiative of the Department of School Education and Literacy.
• It seeks to strengthen government and government-aided schools through community and private-sector participation.
• The Vidyanjali digital platform connects schools with volunteers, organisations and CSR partners.
• Contributions facilitated through Vidyanjali may take the form of services, activities and assets.
• Vidyanjali's CSR framework includes both a CSR Module and an Adopt-a-School Module.

Prelims pointers

• The inaugural BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise runs from October 30 to November 3, 2026.
• Its participants are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the seven BIMSTEC member states.
• The exercise builds on the sixth BIMSTEC Summit theme, “BIMSTEC: Prosperous, Resilient and Open.”
• Its aims include interoperability, maritime-domain awareness, better coordination and exchange of best practices.
• The release identifies the Andaman and Nicobar Command as India's first integrated tri-service command.

Prelims pointers

• President Droupadi Murmu attended the Simhastha Maha Kumbh flag ceremonies at Nashik, Maharashtra, on October 31, 2026.
• The release locates Kumbh gatherings at Haridwar on the Ganga, Prayagraj at the Triveni Sangam, Ujjain on the Shipra and Nashik on the Godavari.
• The Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Maha Kumbh discussed in the President's address is scheduled for 2027.
• The President said extreme weather and drought had affected people, particularly farmers, including in Maharashtra.
• She urged sustained environmental conservation and called for public participation in cleanliness and waste management at the Nashik Maha Kumbh.

Prelims pointers

• Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit became the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on 31 October 2026.
• He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force's Fighter Stream on 6 December 1986.
• He has more than 3,500 flying hours and is a fighter pilot, qualified flying instructor and experimental test pilot.
• The release credits him with work on Jaguar and MiG-27 upgrades and LCA MK-I Tejas IOC and FOC activities.
• Before assuming charge as Chief of the Air Staff, he served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

Prelims pointers

• WDC-PMKSY 2.0 objectives include soil and water conservation, agricultural productivity and sustainable rural development.
• The ridge-to-valley works included Continuous Contour Trenches, nala bunds, Kolhapuri-type weirs and storage ponds.
• Villagers said watershed works across 11 Khed Project villages enabled cultivation of two to three crops annually.
• Communities were asked to maintain water-harvesting structures so the assets remain functional for the next 20 years.
• Officials were told to prioritise work in 76 scheme-covered talukas among Maharashtra's 304 drought-affected talukas.

Prelims pointers

• The Prime Minister's Office reported the successful launch of GSLV-F18 carrying NVS-03.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated scientists and engineers of ISRO for the launch.
• The Prime Minister described NavIC as India's indigenous satellite navigation system.
• He said the NVS-03 mission marked an important step toward strengthening NavIC.
• The release links NVS-03's enhanced capabilities to self-reliance in critical technologies and stronger navigation services for citizens.

Prelims pointers

• The Ministry of Ayush promoted Yoga for Unity on National Unity Day 2026, which marked Sardar Patel's 151st birth anniversary.
• Yoga for Unity is integrated with Yoga 365, an initiative encouraging yoga as a daily and year-round practice.
• The stated objectives include physical and mental well-being, preventive healthcare, social harmony and national integration.
• Yoga and Naturopathy institutions under the Ministry were encouraged to organise community activities and promote wider public participation.
• The campaign uses collective yoga sessions to connect national unity with preventive healthcare and healthy living.

Prelims pointers

• The celebrations in Ekta Nagar marked the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, 2026.
• The Prime Minister credited Patel with integrating more than 550 princely states after independence.
• The release says 2026 marked the 75th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple.
• The Prime Minister claimed Left-Wing Extremism-affected districts declined from 126 in 2015 to zero by March 2026.
• He cited a World Bank report for the claim that 50 crore Indians overcame poverty in the 10 to 12 years before 2024.

Prelims pointers

• The UN Political Office for Somalia, abbreviated UNPOS, began in 1995.
• The UN Security Council established UNSOM in 2013 to support Somalia's transition to democracy and the rule of law.
• Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud requested the mission's closure in May 2024.
• During a two-year transition, UNSOM was renamed the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia, or UNTMIS.
• At closure, the mission's mandates were transferred to Somali institutions or the UN country team.

Prelims pointers

• The Quad comprises India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
• The October 31, 2026 Quad ministerial was held in Atlanta on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
• The four ministers were S. Jaishankar, Marco Rubio, Toshimitsu Motegi and Penny Wong.
• The meeting highlighted open supply chains, next-generation technologies, maritime cooperation and critical minerals.
• The Atlanta gathering was the third Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in 2026.

Prelims pointers

• Gilgit-Baltistan borders China and is a key component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
• The article states that CPEC passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while India opposes such projects on sovereignty grounds.
• Shehbaz Sharif chaired the project-review meeting in Islamabad on October 30, 2026.
• The meeting sought early completion of a federally initiated 100-megawatt solar-power project in Gilgit-Baltistan.
• Officials also discussed the China-funded Naltar power project and installation of digital infrastructure in the region.