Wednesday, 7 October 2026 · IST · Bihar + National · 11 items · 2 MCQs
RBI's MPC raised the repo rate by 25 bps to 5.50% - the first hike since February 2023 - and shifted its stance to 'calibrated tightening'. In Bihar, CM Samrat Choudhary reviewed the Gandak-led floods and fixed 12 October for ₹7,000 ex-gratia per affected family, while the state's Green Hydrogen Policy 2026 targets 1 lakh tonnes/year by 2031. Other key items: Bihar MLC polls (8 seats, 23 Oct), the launch of the Navy's first indigenous Fleet Support Ship, the 2026 Physics Nobel for neutrino astronomy and one year of India-EFTA TEPA.
Today at a glance — things to remember
RBI hikes repo to 5.50% (+25 bps); stance now 'calibrated tightening'
Bihar flood: ₹7,000 ex-gratia per family to be paid on 12 October
Gandak hit a record 91.25 m at Bagaha gauge; 5.435 lakh cusecs at Valmikinagar
Bihar - first state with a silt policy; Gandak & Kosi embankments to be concretised
Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy 2026: 1 lakh t/yr by 2031, ₹16,000 cr investment
CM target: no forced migration for wage work from Bihar by 2030
On 6 October 2026, CM Samrat Choudhary chaired a flood review at the Sankalp auditorium, Patna, and fixed 12 October for paying ₹7,000 ex-gratia to every affected family before Dussehra.
Key facts
Worst-hit: West Champaran, Saran, Gopalganj; embankments damaged at 6 places; about 2.03 lakh people affected.
Gandak reached a record 91.25 m at Bagaha (2024 high: 90.90 m); 5.435 lakh cusecs at Valmikinagar barrage after heavy rain in Nepal's catchment.
15 IAF sorties air-dropped 28 tonnes of food; 5,600+ dry-ration packets in Saran.
CM blamed silt in riverbeds - Bihar is the first state to frame a silt policy; Gandak & Kosi embankments to be concretised.
Way forward
Shift from embankment-only defence to basin-level planning with Nepal, desiltation and early-warning; ensure DBT relief reaches all within the deadline.
Concept
Gandak (Narayani in Nepal) joins the Ganga at Hajipur-Sonepur; Valmikinagar barrage (1969-70) is under the India-Nepal Gandak Agreement (1959). About 73% of Bihar's area is flood-prone.
Schematic of the Gandak flood in Bihar: rain in Nepal's catchment, Valmikinagar barrage discharge of 5.435 lakh cusecs, record 91.25 m at Bagaha, embankments hit at 6 places with 2.03 lakh people affected, and the response chain of IAF air-drops, ₹7,000 ex-gratia on 12 October, silt policy and embankment concretisation. — StudyForGS
2. Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy 2026: 1 Lakh Tonnes a Year by 2031
GS-II: Bihar economy - industrial & energy policy; role of S&T. Prelims: National Green Hydrogen Mission, BREDA.
Context
The state cabinet (meeting of 30 September 2026, 30 agendas) approved the Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy 2026 along with a big push to solarise farm feeders.
Key facts
Target: 1 lakh tonnes/year green hydrogen by 2031; 1 GW electrolyser and about 2.5 GW renewable capacity.
Expected investment ₹16,000 crore; about 12,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Nodal agency: BREDA (Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency).
Solarisation of 2,554 agricultural feeders: ₹2,761.55 crore for 2,585 MW, incl. ₹47.30 crore incentive to gram panchayats.
Way forward
Land-locked Bihar must secure cheap RE, water and offtake (fertiliser, refinery at Barauni) to make hydrogen viable.
Concept
Green hydrogen = H2 from electrolysis of water using renewable power. India's National Green Hydrogen Mission (2023) targets 5 MMT/year by 2030.
Stat-tile row for Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy 2026: 1 lakh tonnes per year by 2031, 1 GW electrolyser, 2.5 GW renewable energy, ₹16,000 crore investment, 12,000 jobs, and 2,554 farm feeders solarised with 2,585 MW. — StudyForGS
Speaking at Jamuhar, Dehri-on-Sone (Rohtas) on 6 October, CM Samrat Choudhary said no one should be forced to leave Bihar for wage work by 2030.
Key facts
Goal: create jobs and investment within Bihar so out-migration becomes a choice, not compulsion.
CM appealed to Bihari entrepreneurs outside the state to invest back home.
Links with new state policies - green hydrogen, feeder solarisation, aviation (ATF VAT 0%).
Way forward
Needs labour-intensive manufacturing (food processing, makhana, textiles), skilling and a migrant database to measure progress.
Concept
Distress migration = push-driven movement due to lack of livelihood (vs. aspirational pull migration). Remittances are a major support of Bihar's rural economy.
5. Pitru Paksha Mela at Gaya: Tent City, e-Pind Daan and Vishnupad Corridor
GS-I: Indian culture with Bihar's role - fairs, pilgrim centres. Prelims: Gaya, Falgu, Vishnupad.
Context
The state-run Pitru Paksha Mela (25 Sep - 10 Oct 2026) is in its final days at Gaya ji, with lakhs of pilgrims from India and abroad performing Pind Daan.
Key facts
2,500-bed tent city by BSTDC; e-Pind Daan for remote devotees; Mahaarti on the Falgu.
Upcoming: world-class Vishnupad Temple corridor and a 1,000-bed Gayaji Dharamshala (₹120 crore).
Gaya's Falgu sand sold to pilgrims creates seasonal livelihood.
Way forward
Integrate Gaya-Bodh Gaya-Rajgir-Nalanda into one spiritual tourism circuit with crowd and waste management.
Concept
The present Vishnupad temple was rebuilt by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1787. The Falgu (Niranjana + Mohana) flows past Gaya and Bodh Gaya.
6. Bihar Legislative Council Polls: 8 Graduate & Teachers' Seats, Voting on 23 October
POLITYBPSC: Prelims + Mains GS-II (Polity - State Legislature)
Syllabus linkage
GS-II: Indian polity - state legislature, Article 171. Prelims: composition of Bihar Vidhan Parishad.
Context
Scrutiny of nominations is today (7 October) for 8 MLC seats whose terms end on 16 November 2026; multi-cornered contests are shaping up.
Withdrawal by 9 Oct; polling 23 Oct (8 am-4 pm); counting 27 Oct.
Polls held alongside similar seats in Karnataka (4), Maharashtra (5) and UP (11).
Way forward
Higher graduate voter enrolment and use of preferential voting awareness can improve legitimacy of these seats.
Concept
Art. 171: of MLC strength, 1/12 elected by graduates (3 yrs standing) and 1/12 by teachers (3 yrs, not below secondary school); voting by STV. Bihar Council has 75 members.
Timeline flowchart of the Bihar MLC election 2026: notification 29 September, last date of nomination 6 October, scrutiny 7 October, withdrawal 9 October, polling 23 October, counting 27 October. — StudyForGS
7. RBI Raises Repo Rate to 5.50%, First Hike Since 2023
GS-II: Indian economy - monetary policy, inflation. Prelims: policy rates, MPC, LAF corridor.
Context
Today (7 October), the MPC under Governor Sanjay Malhotraunanimously raised the repo rate by 25 bps to 5.50%, citing high oil prices, a weak monsoon and tighter global conditions.
Key facts
SDF 5.25%, MSF & Bank Rate 5.75%; first hike since February 2023 (after 125 bps of cuts in 2025).
Stance changed from neutral to 'calibrated tightening' by a 4-2 vote.
FY27 projections: GDP 7.1%, CPI 5.2% (Q3 6.0%, Q4 5.7%).
Pair tightening with supply-side food measures and protect MSME credit flow.
Concept
MPC (Sec 45ZB, RBI Act) has 6 members; inflation target 4% ± 2% (CPI). Repo = rate at which RBI lends to banks; SDF is the corridor floor, MSF the ceiling.
Grouped bar chart comparing RBI policy rates before and after the 7 October 2026 MPC: repo 5.25% to 5.50%, SDF 5.00% to 5.25%, MSF 5.50% to 5.75%, with FY27 projections of GDP 7.1% and CPI 5.2%. — StudyForGS
The Swiss President visited New Delhi (5 October) to mark one year of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, in force since 1 October 2025.
Key facts
TEPA (signed 10 March 2024) - first FTA with a binding pledge: USD 100 bn FDI and 10 lakh direct jobs in 15 years.
India-EFTA trade USD 24.4 bn (2024-25), of which Switzerland USD 23.3 bn.
New: Migration & Mobility Partnership; Young Professionals quota 300/yr (expandable to 500).
Irritants: Section 3(d) of Patents Act, no BIT, gold-driven trade gap.
Way forward
Operationalise the investment desk, conclude a new BIT, and diversify exports beyond gold-led imbalance.
Concept
EFTA = Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein (founded 1960, not in the EU). Sec 3(d) bars patents on new forms of known substances (anti-evergreening).
Donut chart of India-EFTA trade of USD 24.4 billion in 2024-25: Switzerland USD 23.3 billion (about 95%) and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein together USD 1.1 billion. — StudyForGS
9. Navy's First Indigenous Fleet Support Ship FSS-1 Launched at Visakhapatnam
GS-II: developments in S&T. Prelims: Nobel Prizes, particle physics basics.
Context
On 6 October, the Royal Swedish Academy awarded the Physics prize to Francis Halzen (University of Wisconsin-Madison) for detecting high-energy cosmic neutrinos.
Key facts
He led the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole - sensors buried in 1 cubic km of Antarctic ice.
Opened neutrino astronomy - tracing particles from distant galaxies.
Medicine 2026 (5 Oct): Deisseroth, Hegemann, Nagel for optogenetics.
Prize: medal, diploma and about USD 1.2 mn; Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Economics follow.
Way forward
India's INO (Theni, Tamil Nadu) project needs revival to join neutrino research.
Concept
Neutrinos are nearly massless, chargeless 'ghost particles' that rarely interact with matter. IceCube detects the Cherenkov light of their collisions in ice.
11. National Supercomputing Mission: 40 Systems, 68 Petaflops Deployed
Indigenous Rudra servers: 6,000 made; used by 16,000+ researchers at 400+ institutions.
Launched April 2015 with ₹4,500 crore; run by MeitY & DST.
Way forward
Build indigenous CPUs/GPUs and plan an exascale system to keep pace globally.
Concept
1 petaflop = 10^15 floating-point ops/sec. India's first supercomputer PARAM 8000 (1991) by C-DAC (est. 1988).
Donut chart of 40 supercomputers deployed under the National Supercomputing Mission: 13 high-end above 1 PF, 12 mid-range 0.5 to 1 PF, 15 low-end below 0.5 PF; total 68 petaflops against a target of 123 petaflops. — StudyForGS
Data point of the day
5.50%
RBI Repo Rate (7 Oct 2026) Up 25 bps from 5.25% - first hike since Feb 2023. Corridor: SDF 5.25% to MSF 5.75%. FY27: GDP 7.1%, CPI 5.2%. Costlier loans mean higher EMIs for Bihar's MSMEs and home buyers; FD rates may rise.
Prelims rapid-fire
10th India Mobile Congress - 7-10 October 2026, Yashobhoomi, New Delhi (DoT + COAI)
Bihar Pitru Paksha Mela 2026 - 25 Sep to 10 Oct, Gaya ji; 2,500-bed tent city
Valmikinagar barrage on the Gandak - West Champaran, on the India-Nepal border
NABKISAN (NABARD arm) listed India's first WASH social bond - ₹180 crore, 8.10% coupon
Indian Air Force Day - 8 October (IAF formed in 1932)
Bihar Vidhan Parishad - 75 members; Art. 169 for creation/abolition of Councils
Practice MCQs — BPSC Prelims pattern
Q1. With reference to the RBI's monetary policy of 7 October 2026, consider the following statements: 1. The repo rate was raised to 5.50%. 2. The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate is now the ceiling of the policy corridor. 3. The MPC is constituted under Section 45ZB of the RBI Act, 1934. Which of the statements given above are correct?
1 and 2 only
1 and 3 only
2 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: B Repo is now 5.50% and the MPC is under Sec 45ZB. The SDF (5.25%) is the floor; the MSF (5.75%) is the ceiling.
Q2. The Valmikinagar barrage, where a record flood discharge was recorded in the 2026 Bihar floods, is located on which river?
Kosi
Gandak
Bagmati
Son
Show answer
Answer: B Valmikinagar barrage (West Champaran) is on the Gandak (Narayani), built under the 1959 India-Nepal Gandak Agreement; the Kosi barrage is at Bhimnagar (Nepal).
Mains practice question
Q. North Bihar's floods are as much a problem of silt and transboundary rivers as of rainfall. In the light of the 2026 Gandak floods, critically examine Bihar's flood-management strategy and suggest a sustainable way forward. (BPSC Mains GS-II, 38 marks)
Hint / approach
Intro: 73% area flood-prone; Gandak record 91.25 m. Body: Nepal catchment, embankment breaches, silt policy, concretisation, relief (₹7,000, IAF). Critique: embankment trap. Way forward: India-Nepal basin plan, desiltation, early warning, flood-plain zoning.
📌 One-line revision: Repo 5.50% | Gandak 91.25 m at Bagaha | ₹7,000 flood aid on 12 Oct | Green H2 1 lakh t by 2031 | MLC poll 23 Oct | Nobel Physics - Halzen
