Wednesday, 14 October 2026 · IST · Bihar + National · 10 items · 2 MCQs
Bihar's day is dominated by the Raghopur (Vaishali) boat capsize on the Ganga that killed 13 children, the CM's order to begin paddy procurement from November with a bid to raise the target to 50 lakh MT, and the inauguration of the state's first 12 MW data centre in Patna with a ₹10,000 crore MoU. Nationally, wholesale inflation jumped to 11.39% in September, the IMF raised India's FY27 growth forecast to 7%, and BIMSTEC Home Ministers adopted the Delhi Declaration against cross-border terrorism.
Today at a glance — things to remember
13 children died as a boat capsized in the Ganga at Raghopur (Vaishali) on 13 Oct.
PM: ₹2 lakh per deceased from PMNRF; Bihar: ₹4 lakh per deceased family.
Bihar paddy procurement from 1 Nov; state seeks target hike 35 → 50 lakh MT.
Paddy MSP 2026-27: ₹2,441/qtl (common); Bihar achieved 99.84% of target in 2025-26.
Bihar's first 12 MW data centre opens at Pataliputra Industrial Area, Patna; ₹10,000 cr MoU.
Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy 2026: 1 lakh tonnes/yr by 2031, ₹16,000 cr investment.
Mains GS-II: Bihar geography (rivers, diara belts), governance & disaster management. Prelims: Ganga system in Bihar, SDRF/NDRF, PMNRF.
Context
A country boat capsized in the Ganga in the Raghopur police-station area of Vaishali around 8:30 pm on 13 Oct 2026, killing at least 13 children below 15 years. Most passengers, from Rampur Shyamchand village, were crossing the river to attend a community feast.
Key facts
District administration confirmed 13 bodies recovered; 7 children rescued and shifted to NMCH, Patna.
PM announced ₹2 lakh per deceased and ₹50,000 per injured from PMNRF.
CM Samrat Choudhary announced ₹4 lakh per deceased family from the state.
SDRF teams and local divers led the search; overcrowding suspected, cause under inquiry.
Way forward
Mandatory registration and capacity marking of country boats, life jackets, ghat-level patrolling and all-weather connectivity for diara villages like Raghopur.
Concept
Raghopur is a diara (riverine flood-plain island) of the Ganga between Patna and Hajipur. SDRF is raised under the Disaster Management Act, 2005; PMNRF (set up in 1948) runs entirely on public contributions.
Map of Bihar with district boundaries highlighting Vaishali and Patna districts, the Ganga, Gandak, Son and Kosi rivers, the Raghopur boat-capsize site, Hajipur and the Pataliputra Industrial Area data centre, with a side panel of key numbers: 13 children dead, about 20 on board, 7 rescued, ₹2 lakh PMNRF and ₹4 lakh state aid per death, 12 MW data centre. — StudyForGS
2. Paddy procurement from 1 November; Bihar seeks target hike to 50 lakh MT
Reviewing the Food & Consumer Protection Department, CM Samrat Choudhary directed that paddy procurement for KMS 2026-27 begin in November (window 1 Nov 2026 – 31 Mar 2027) and that every eligible poor family get a ration card without delay.
Key facts
Current target 35 lakh MT; state seeking 50 lakh MT with Centre's support.
Paddy MSP 2026-27: ₹2,441/qtl for common variety (up ₹72).
Doorstep ration for people aged 80+ and persons with disabilities; new fair price shop licences to be expedited.
NFSA need ~33.16 lakh MT rice, i.e. ~48.87 lakh MT paddy a year.
Way forward
Timely PACS payments, more milling and storage capacity and moisture-norm flexibility can end distress sales below MSP.
Concept
MSP is fixed by the Centre on CACP advice and approved by the CCEA. Bihar follows decentralised procurement (DCP) mainly through PACS and Vyapar Mandals. NFSA, 2013 covers up to 75% rural and 50% urban population.
Two bar charts: left shows Bihar's paddy procurement target achievement rising from 68.42% in 2023-24 to 87.18% in 2024-25 and 99.84% in 2025-26; right compares the current KMS 2026-27 target of 35 lakh MT, the proposed 50 lakh MT and the NFSA paddy need of 48.87 lakh MT. — StudyForGS
3. Bihar's first 12 MW data centre opens in Patna; ₹10,000 crore MoU signed
Mains GS-II: Bihar's industrial & IT policy, role of science & technology in development. Prelims: data centres, IndiaAI Mission, state revenue terms.
Context
On 13 Oct 2026, CM Samrat Choudhary inaugurated Bihar's first data centre (12 MW), run by CtrlS Datacenters at Pataliputra Industrial Area, Patna, under the Bihar IT Policy 2024; the company signed a ₹10,000 crore MoU with the Industries Department.
Key facts
Goal: at least 1,000 MW of data-centre capacity in Bihar within 5 years.
State budget ~₹3.47 lakh crore; own revenue ~₹70,000 crore, target ₹2 lakh crore.
About 13,000 acres of land being readied for industrial units.
Push for electronics manufacturing in the Ganga belt incl. Hajipur, and renewable power for data centres.
Way forward
Assured 24x7 power, a strong fibre backbone and a skilled IT workforce are needed to turn MoUs into jobs.
Concept
A data centre hosts servers and storage; its size is measured in MW of IT load. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the IndiaAI Mission (2024) are raising demand for domestic compute capacity.
Four coloured stat tiles: 12 MW, Bihar's first data centre at Pataliputra Industrial Area; ₹10,000 crore MoU with the Industries Department; 1,000 MW state data-centre capacity goal in five years; ₹2 lakh crore own-revenue goal against about ₹70,000 crore now. — StudyForGS
4. Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy 2026: 1 lakh tonnes a year by 2031
Mains GS-II: energy sector of Bihar, S&T for clean energy. Prelims: green hydrogen, electrolysis, National Green Hydrogen Mission, BREDA.
Context
The state cabinet has cleared the Bihar Green Hydrogen Policy, 2026 among 30 decisions, positioning Bihar as a clean-fuel hub; the same package funds solarisation of agricultural feeders.
Key facts
Target 1 lakh tonnes/yr green hydrogen by 2031; 1 GW electrolysers; ~2.5 GW renewable capacity.
Expected investment ₹16,000 crore; ~12,000 direct and indirect jobs; nodal agency BREDA.
₹2,761.55 crore to solarise the remaining 2,554 agri feeders with 2,585 MW of solar plants.
VAT on ATF cut from 1% to zero at RCS-UDAN airports.
Way forward
Link with Central SIGHT incentives, plan water availability for electrolysis and secure anchor demand from fertiliser and refinery units such as Barauni.
Concept
Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable power. The National Green Hydrogen Mission (Jan 2023, outlay ₹19,744 crore) targets 5 MMT a year by 2030.
Flowchart of Bihar's green hydrogen value chain: about 2.5 GW renewable power feeds 1 GW electrolysers producing 1 lakh tonnes of green hydrogen a year for ammonia, fertiliser, refinery and mobility uses; tiles below show ₹16,000 crore investment, about 12,000 jobs, BREDA as nodal agency and 2,585 MW solar for 2,554 agricultural feeders. — StudyForGS
5. Biennial polls to 8 Bihar Legislative Council seats on 23 October
Mains GS-II: state legislature, bicameralism in Bihar. Prelims: Articles 169 & 171, composition of Legislative Councils, STV voting.
Context
Bihar heads to biennial elections for 8 Legislative Council seats — 4 Graduates' and 4 Teachers' constituencies — whose members retire on 16 Nov 2026; parties are firming up strategy ahead of polling on 23 Oct.
Part of 28 seats in 4 states: UP 11, Bihar 8, Maharashtra 5, Karnataka 4.
Notification 29 Sep; polling 23 Oct (8 am–4 pm); counting 27 Oct; process ends 31 Oct.
Voting by preferential ballot (single transferable vote).
Way forward
Updated electoral rolls of graduates and teachers and wider awareness can lift traditionally low turnout in these seats.
Concept
Article 169: Parliament creates/abolishes a Council on an Assembly resolution passed by special majority. Article 171: 1/3 elected by local bodies, 1/12 by graduates, 1/12 by teachers, 1/3 by MLAs, 1/6 nominated by the Governor. Bihar Council has 75 seats; only 6 states have Councils.
6. BIMSTEC Home Ministers adopt Delhi Declaration against cross-border terror
Mains GS-I: current events of international importance; India's Neighbourhood First and Act East. Prelims: BIMSTEC members, secretariat, conventions.
Context
India hosted the first-ever BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on 13 Oct 2026, addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Members adopted the Delhi Declaration for joint action against terrorism, drug trafficking, cybercrime and human trafficking.
Key facts
Implement the BIMSTEC Convention on Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organised Crime & Illicit Drug Trafficking (in force March 2021).
Finalise conventions on extradition, transfer of sentenced persons and trafficking in persons.
Set up a BIMSTEC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk and an SOP for rescue and repatriation of trafficking victims.
Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance was signed at the 5th Summit, Colombo (March 2022).
Way forward
Real-time intelligence sharing, joint cyber-forensics training and quick ratification of pending conventions will give the Declaration teeth.
Concept
BIMSTEC was founded on 6 June 1997 by the Bangkok Declaration; 7 members (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand); Secretariat in Dhaka; its Charter entered into force in May 2024.
Map of South and Southeast Asia highlighting the seven BIMSTEC members — India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka — around the Bay of Bengal, with New Delhi starred as host of the first Home Ministers' Meeting on 13 October and Dhaka marked as the Secretariat. — StudyForGS
Mains GS-II: Indian economy – growth, external shocks, inflation. Prelims: IMF, World Economic Outlook, Bretton Woods institutions.
Context
The IMF's October 2026 World Economic Outlook raised India's FY27 GDP growth forecast to 7% (+0.6 pp over July) and FY28 to 7% (+0.3 pp), citing stronger-than-expected momentum despite the West Asia energy shock.
Key facts
India's FY26 growth estimated at 7.8%.
India is an exception among energy-importing emerging economies facing medium-term downgrades.
Oil price assumption: $95.74/bbl (2026) and $87.39/bbl (2027).
Baseline assumes the Strait of Hormuz reopens by March 2027.
Way forward
Diversify crude sourcing, build strategic petroleum reserves and keep fiscal space for energy-shock relief.
Concept
The WEO is released twice a year (April & October) with January/July updates. The IMF was born at Bretton Woods (1944), is headquartered in Washington DC and has 191 members.
Grouped bar chart of IMF forecasts for India's GDP growth: FY26 estimated at 7.8%; FY27 raised from 6.4% in the July 2026 WEO to 7.0% in October; FY28 raised from 6.7% to 7.0%. — StudyForGS
8. NPCI defers MDR on UPI merchant payments above ₹2,000 till after Diwali
ECONOMYBPSC: Prelims + Mains GS-II (Indian Economy – Digital Payments)
Syllabus linkage
Mains GS-II: banking & digital payments, financial inclusion. Prelims: UPI, NPCI, MDR, P2P vs P2M.
Context
NPCI's UPI & Services Steering Committee on 13 Oct 2026 deferred the planned merchant discount rate (MDR) on select person-to-merchant (P2M) UPI payments above ₹2,000, due from 15 Oct, to "immediately after Diwali", citing the festive season.
Key facts
Proposed charge of about 0.4% on select payments above ₹2,000, varying by category with caps.
P2P transfers and payments up to ₹2,000 remain free.
Deferment is not a withdrawal; merchant bodies and fintechs had sought the delay.
Listed fintech stocks rebounded after the announcement.
Way forward
A graded, small-merchant-friendly MDR can fund UPI infrastructure without hurting adoption in towns and villages.
Concept
MDR is the fee a merchant pays to banks/payment providers per digital transaction. UPI was launched in 2016 by NPCI (set up 2008 by RBI & IBA as a not-for-profit). Zero MDR on UPI and RuPay debit cards has applied since 1 Jan 2020.
9. INS Mangrol, third Mahe-class anti-submarine craft, commissioned
DEFENCEBPSC: Prelims + Mains GS-II (Role of S&T – Defence)
Syllabus linkage
Mains GS-II: role and impact of S&T, indigenisation (Aatmanirbhar Bharat). Prelims: naval ship classes, shipyards, exercises.
Context
The Navy commissioned INS Mangrol, the thirdAnti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) of the Mahe class, at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on 12 Oct 2026, presided over by Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, FOC-in-C Western Naval Command.
Key facts
Built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd with over 80% indigenous content.
Fitted with Abhay hull-mounted sonar, lightweight torpedoes, indigenous ASW rocket launcher and Mareech torpedo decoy.
Named after Mangrol, a fishing harbour in Junagadh (Gujarat); revives the name of a minesweeper decommissioned in 2004.
Meanwhile, India–UK naval exercise KONKAN-26 runs off Plymouth (8–15 Oct) with INS Trishul.
Way forward
Faster induction of the remaining Mahe-class craft will plug coastal ASW gaps amid rising submarine activity in the Indian Ocean.
Concept
ASW-SWC are small craft for hunting submarines in shallow coastal waters; Navy ordered 16 (8 each from CSL and GRSE). Sonar uses sound waves to detect underwater objects.
10. Nobel in Economics 2026 to Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford
On 12 Oct 2026, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences went to American economists Robert E. Hall (Stanford) and Michael Woodford (Columbia) for work on the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation.
Key facts
Woodford's New Keynesian framework (*Interest and Prices*, 2003) underpins modern inflation targeting.
Hall is known for work on consumption (random-walk hypothesis), labour markets and business cycles.
Prize shared equally; it was instituted by Sweden's central bank in 1968.
Relevance: RBI's flexible inflation targeting (CPI 4% ± 2%) draws on this research.
Way forward
With WPI at 11.39%, the award's ideas on credible, forward-looking policy are directly relevant to India's rate-setting.
Concept
Inflation targeting in India was made statutory by amending the RBI Act, 1934 in 2016, creating the 6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
Data point of the day
11.39%
WPI inflation, September 2026 (released 14 Oct) Up from 9.92% in August: fuel & power 25.85%, manufactured products 9.76% (series high), food index 8.66%. Retail CPI hit a 23-month high of 5.54% (food 7.74%), driven by the West Asia conflict and Strait of Hormuz blockade; RBI raised the repo rate by 25 bps to 5.50% on 7 Oct.
Prelims rapid-fire
Vaishali will host Bihar's first International Buddhist Conference on 11–13 Dec 2026 at the Buddha Samyak Darshan Museum-cum-Memorial Stupa.
Bihar cabinet: Mukhya Mantri Hemophilia Yojana for 255 patients using Emicizumab.
Retail CPI (new base 2024) at 5.54% in Sep 2026; onion inflation 108.09%.
RBI hiked the repo rate by 25 bps to 5.50% on 7 Oct 2026.
WWF Living Planet Report 2026: average 73% fall in monitored wildlife populations (1970–2022); freshwater 85%.
UNCTAD Trade & Development Report 2026: India the fastest-growing large economy at 7.3% in 2026.
Practice MCQs — BPSC Prelims pattern
Q1. With reference to State Legislative Councils, consider the following statements: 1. Under Article 169, Parliament may create or abolish a Council if the State Assembly passes a resolution by special majority. 2. One-twelfth of the members are elected by graduates of at least three years' standing residing in the State. 3. The Bihar Legislative Council has 75 seats. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: d All three are correct: Article 169 governs creation/abolition; Article 171(3)(b) gives 1/12 seats to graduates; Bihar's Council has 75 members.
Q2. Consider the following statements about BIMSTEC: 1. It was established in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. 2. Its permanent Secretariat is located in Kathmandu. 3. Myanmar and Thailand are its members. Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: b BIMSTEC was set up by the Bangkok Declaration (1997); its Secretariat is in Dhaka, not Kathmandu; Myanmar and Thailand are among its 7 members.
Mains practice question
Q. Bihar's paddy procurement efficiency has risen sharply in recent years, yet small farmers still face distress sales. Examine the role of PACS-led decentralised procurement and suggest measures to strengthen it. (BPSC Mains GS-II)
Hint / approach
Intro with 68.42% → 99.84% achievement trend and the 35 → 50 lakh MT target bid; body: DCP model, PACS finance and storage gaps, milling capacity, payment delays, moisture norms, NFSA linkage; conclude with digital land-record-linked registration, warehouse receipts and FPO integration.
📌 One-line revision: Raghopur diara boat tragedy (13 dead) • paddy buying from 1 Nov, target bid 50 lakh MT • Bihar's 1st 12 MW data centre + ₹10,000 cr MoU • Green H2 1 lakh t by 2031 • MLC polls 23 Oct • WPI 11.39% • IMF India 7% • BIMSTEC Delhi Declaration.
