Current Affairs

CHG meeting

25th

meeting · 2026

20 Oct

host country

Tajikistan

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October.
• His address called for concerted action against terrorism and said connectivity should respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Exam anchor Distinguish the SCO heads-of-government meeting from the heads-of-state summit; remember the host city.

exercise edition

5th

host state

Kerala

approximate army contingents

120 each

• The fifth joint military Exercise AUSTRAHIND began on 19 October in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and is scheduled through 1 November.
• About 120 Indian Army and 120 Australian Army personnel are participating; New Zealand has an observer delegation for the first time.

Exam anchor Remember the two armies, venue and island-and-coastal operations theme.

GPs and ULBs planned

2.70 lakh

planned start · 2026

21 Oct

planned end · 2026

31 Dec

• The Department of Financial Services announced a campaign scheduled for 21 October–31 December 2026 across 2.70 lakh gram panchayats and urban local bodies.
• Planned bank camps include PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY enrolment, PMJDY accounts, re-KYC and digital-fraud awareness.

Exam anchor Associate the campaign with the Department of Financial Services and distinguish the named schemes.

announcement · 2026

19 Oct

stated entry into force

20 Oct

investment commitment

USD 20 bn

• The Indian and New Zealand trade ministers announced on 19 October that their free trade agreement would enter into force on 20 October 2026.
• The release describes duty-free access to New Zealand and a commitment to facilitate USD 20 billion of investment into India; this is a commitment, not an achieved flow.

Exam anchor Keep the announcement date, stated commencement date and investment commitment separate.

disbursed

₹1.19 cr

State Biodiversity Boards

29

UT Biodiversity Council

1

• The National Biodiversity Authority disbursed ₹1.19 crore under Access and Benefit Sharing to 29 State Biodiversity Boards and one Union Territory Biodiversity Council.
• The contributions came from companies using agricultural biological resources for research and commercial purposes.

Exam anchor Connect ABS with biological-resource use and benefit sharing.

speech corpus

28+ hours

Tamil and Sourashtra

2 scripts

research partner

IISc

• The Digital India BHASHINI Division and IISc Bengaluru developed text-to-speech models for Sourashtra, a low-resource Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly in Tamil Nadu.
• The models support male and female voices in Tamil and Sourashtra scripts; the IISc corpus contains more than 28 hours of recordings.

Exam anchor Link BHASHINI to multilingual digital access and distinguish text-to-speech from translation.

commissioning · 2026

16 Oct

multi-purpose vessel

MPV

builder

L&T

• INS Samarthak, the first of a class of multi-purpose vessels, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 16 October 2026.
• Built by L&T Shipyard, it is described by the Navy as the first major warship built by an Indian private shipyard.

Exam anchor Recall the vessel class and distinguish commissioning from a prior launch.

plans approved

5

new approvals

₹1,194.92 cr

cumulative approvals

₹3,687 cr

• The National Steering Committee approved five Strategic Investment Plans worth ₹1,194.92 crore for ITI clusters in Maharashtra, Odisha and Jammu & Kashmir.
• The ministry said cumulative approved investment under PM-SETU had reached ₹3,687 crore; approvals are not completed spending.

Exam anchor Expand PM-SETU as Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs.

selected artists

106

maximum age

40

award instituted

2006

• The Ministry of Culture announced 106 artists selected for the 2024 and 2025 Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, with a ceremony scheduled for 19 October in New Delhi.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi instituted the award in 2006 for artists up to age 40 in music, dance and drama; it carries ₹25,000, a tamrapatra and an angavastram.

Exam anchor Remember the awarding institution, age limit and performing-arts fields; the source announced the ceremony in advance.

India's reported Ramsar sites

103

new additions

2

announcement · 2026

15 Oct

• The environment ministry announced 103 Ramsar sites after Sukhna Wetland in Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh were added.
• The announcement links wetland conservation to biodiversity, water and climate security and livelihoods.

Exam anchor Pair Sukhna with Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel with Uttar Pradesh; date the reported count.

approved period

5 years

five-year outlay

₹53,428 cr

end fiscal year

2030–31

• The Union Cabinet approved continuation of the National Social Assistance Programme for 2026–27 to 2030–31 with a five-year outlay of ₹53,428 crore.
• The decision includes renaming the scheme Pradhan Mantri Samajik Sahayata Yojana and changes to divyangjan-pension eligibility, coverage and assistance.

Exam anchor Relate NSAP to Article 41 of the Directive Principles; distinguish approval from implementation.

approval · 2026

14 Oct

regional agreement

SIOFA

fisheries scope

High seas

• The Central Government approved India's accession to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement on 14 October 2026.
• The ministry described SIOFA as a regional framework for high-seas fisheries and sustainable harvesting; approval is distinct from completed accession.

Exam anchor Expand SIOFA and associate it with southern Indian Ocean high-seas fisheries governance.

September WPI inflation

11.39%

August WPI inflation

9.92%

base year

2022–23

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported provisional September 2026 WPI inflation of 11.39% year-on-year, compared with 9.92% in August.
• The WPI series uses base year 2022–23; the September all-commodities index stood at 112.5.

Exam anchor Distinguish wholesale inflation from CPI and preserve the base year and year-on-year comparison.