Monday, 12 October 2026 · IST · National & International · 11 items · 2 MCQs
With the repo rate now at 5.5%, all eyes are on today's September CPI release, expected near a 23-month high. In governance, the Supreme Court barred detentions outside the procedure established by law during protests in Delhi, while PMDDKY completed a year with gains in 100 low-performing districts. Defence saw the launch of NGOPV Shreyas and the close of Tarang Shakti 2026.
Today at a glance — things to remember
Repo rate 5.5% after first hike since Feb 2023; stance 'calibrated tightening'.
September CPI due today; poll expects ~5.6%, a 23-month high.
After the MPC raised the repo rate by 25 bps to 5.5% on 7 October, markets await the September CPI release today; a poll of economists expects about 5.6% – a 23-month high – driven by food and fuel prices.
Key facts
First hike since February 2023; SDF 5.25%, MSF & Bank Rate 5.75%; hike was unanimous (6-0).
Stance changed from neutral to 'calibrated tightening' by a 4-2 vote; Governor Sanjay Malhotra.
CPI: July 4.45% → August 4.82%; food inflation (CFPI) 5.95% in August; WPI 9.92% in August.
RBI raised FY27 CPI forecast to 5.2% (from 5.0%); GDP growth projected at 7.1% (Q1 FY27: 7.8%).
Crude basket averaged $114-116/barrel in September amid the US-Iran conflict re-escalation.
Way forward
Anchor expectations with supply-side action (buffer stocks, edible-oil duty, fuel tax calibration) so that rate hikes do not unduly hurt 7%+ growth.
Concept
Flexible Inflation Targeting (since 2016, Sec 45ZA RBI Act): CPI target 4% ± 2%. MPC = 6 members (3 RBI + 3 external), Governor has casting vote. SDF is the floor and MSF the ceiling of the LAF corridor.
Bar chart of CPI inflation for July (4.45%), August (4.82%) and the September poll estimate (5.6%) against the 4% target and 6% upper band, with a panel showing the policy corridor: SDF 5.25%, repo 5.5%, MSF 5.75%. — StudyForGS
Launched on 11 October 2025 along with the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, the PMDDKY completed one year; government data shows the composite score of the 100 low-performing districts rose from 22.54 to 38.85 within three months of the review cycle.
Key facts
Outlay ₹24,000 crore per year for 6 years (from 2025-26); covers 100 districts, at least one per State/UT.
Converges 36 schemes of 11 departments; districts chosen on low productivity, low cropping intensity, low credit.
Monitored through 117 KPIs on a monthly dashboard; District Dhan-Dhaanya Samiti prepares district plans.
Pulses Mission: ₹11,440 crore (2025-26 to 2030-31); target 350 lakh tonnes output on 310 lakh ha.
100% procurement of tur, urad and masoor for four years; both schemes together: ₹35,440 crore.
Way forward
Shift from input targets to farm-income outcomes; link district plans with storage, FPOs and crop diversification to cut pulses imports.
Concept
Cropping intensity = gross cropped area ÷ net sown area × 100. PMDDKY is modelled on the Aspirational Districts Programme (2018) – convergence, collaboration, competition. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses.
Scheme diagram: stat tiles showing ₹24,000 crore per year, 100 districts, 36 schemes, 11 departments, 117 KPIs, and pillars of PMDDKY – productivity, crop diversification, irrigation, storage, credit – with the linked Pulses Mission targets. — StudyForGS
3. Navy's Next-Generation OPV 'Shreyas' launched at GRSE, Kolkata
DEFENCEUPSC: Prelims + Mains GS3 (Security)
Syllabus linkage
GS3 – Security challenges in border/maritime areas, indigenisation of defence. Prelims: NGOPV, GRSE, EEZ.
Context
Yard 3040, named Shreyas, the fourth and last Next-Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), was launched in Kolkata on 10 October 2026.
Key facts
11 NGOPVs contracted on 30 March 2023 for ₹9,781 crore – 7 at Goa Shipyard, 4 at GRSE.
Timely delivery and higher indigenous content will free frontline warships and strengthen India's role as first responder in the IOR.
Concept
EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles under UNCLOS (1982); India's EEZ is about 2.37 million sq km. GRSE is a Defence PSU (Miniratna) under the Ministry of Defence.
4. Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 concludes at Jodhpur with 7 foreign air forces
The second edition of the IAF-hosted multinational air exercise Tarang Shakti ends today (26 Sep – 12 Oct 2026) at Air Force Station Jodhpur, Rajasthan; Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended key events.
Key facts
7 foreign air forces: USA, France, Germany, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE; 32 observer countries.
US F-35 Lightning II flew in an IAF-hosted exercise for the first time.
1st edition (2024) was held in two phases – Sulur (Tamil Nadu) and Jodhpur.
Way forward
Institutionalise Tarang Shakti as a biennial flagship, deepen interoperability and showcase indigenous platforms (LCA Tejas, Prachand) for exports.
Concept
Other IAF exercises: Garuda (France), Cope India & Red Flag (USA), Pitch Black (Australia), Desert Knight, Eastern Bridge (Oman). Exercise Indra is with Russia.
World map highlighting India and the seven foreign air forces in Tarang Shakti 2026 – USA, France, Germany, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE – with Jodhpur marked as the host base. — StudyForGS
5. Indo-French TRISHNA thermal satellite in advanced stage; launch in 12-16 months
SCI-TECHUPSC: Prelims + Mains GS3 (Space)
Syllabus linkage
GS3 – Space technology and applications; GS2 – India–France ties. Prelims: TRISHNA, sun-synchronous orbit, thermal infrared.
Context
An ISRO official said at the 'TRISHNA – Water for Tomorrow' workshop that the joint ISRO–CNES satellite is in an advanced stage of realisation, with launch expected in 12 to 16 months.
3rd joint Indo-French Earth-observation mission after Megha-Tropiques (2011) and SARAL (2013).
CNES builds the thermal infrared (TIR) payload; ISRO builds the VSWIR payload and the bus.
Sun-synchronous orbit ~761 km; ~57 m resolution over land; revisit about 3 days; life 5 years.
Way forward
Integrate TRISHNA data with PMKSY irrigation planning, urban heat action plans and drought monitoring for water security.
Concept
Thermal infrared sensors measure Land Surface Temperature (LST), used to estimate evapotranspiration and crop water stress. A sun-synchronous orbit passes a place at the same local solar time daily.
Fact-sheet schematic of TRISHNA showing the ISRO and CNES payload split, 761 km sun-synchronous orbit, 57 m resolution, 3-day revisit, 5-year life and key applications such as evapotranspiration, crop water stress and urban heat islands. — StudyForGS
6. Heat-driven sex reversal pushing frogs towards earlier extinction: new study
A new peer-reviewed study finds that warming is making heat-induced sex reversal more common in the European agile frog, with genetic females developing as phenotypic males.
Key facts
Sex-reversed males sired fewer offspring and were more vulnerable to heat and ranavirus.
Models: decline may begin ~10 years earlier and extinction ~9.5 years sooner in affected populations.
About 40% of amphibian species already face extinction risk – the most threatened vertebrate class.
Way forward
Protect shaded wetlands and breeding ponds, monitor sex ratios and include amphibians in climate-adaptation plans.
Concept
TSD (temperature-dependent sex determination) is normal in turtles and crocodiles – warmer nests of Olive Ridley turtles yield more females. In frogs sex is genetic, but heat can override it.
7. SC special sitting: no detention except by procedure established by law during Delhi protests
POLITYUPSC: Prelims + Mains GS2 (Polity)
Syllabus linkage
GS2 – Fundamental Rights, judiciary. Prelims: Art 19(1)(b), Art 21-22, Art 358, Sec 163 BNSS, habeas corpus.
Context
At a rare Sunday sitting (11 October), a bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued interim directions on protests in Delhi against the Chief Election Commissioner, after counsel alleged mass detentions and invoked the Emergency-era ADM Jabalpur case.
Key facts
No one to be detained except through procedure established by law, esp. peaceful, unarmed assemblies.
Metro and rail to run normally; internet to stay undisturbed; free movement subject to traffic rules.
Sec 163 BNSS notice near the Supreme Court to be removed to ensure access to courts; advocates not to be hindered.
Compliance report due 13 October; Court to examine whether the Police Act is consistent with Article 19.
Way forward
Codify protest-management SOPs with proportionality, disclosure of detention data, and name badges for police to ensure accountability.
Concept
Art 19(1)(b): assemble peaceably and without arms, restrictable under 19(3) (public order, sovereignty). Art 22: produce arrestee before magistrate within 24 hours. ADM Jabalpur (1976) was overruled in Puttaswamy (2017); Anuradha Bhasin (2020) – internet curbs must be proportionate.
8. Pakistan imposes emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, suspends provincial government
IRUPSC: Prelims + Mains GS2 (IR / Polity)
Syllabus linkage
GS2 – Developments in neighbourhood, comparison of constitutions. Prelims: Art 356, Art 352, S.R. Bommai.
Context
President Asif Ali Zardari issued a proclamation under Articles 232(1) and 234(1) of Pakistan's Constitution, suspending the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government led by Imran Khan's party, whose CM Sohail Afridi had led a march for Khan's release.
Key facts
Art 232 (Pakistan): emergency on war or internal disturbance; Art 234: failure of constitutional machinery in a province.
Move follows weeks of talk of Governor's Rule in the PTI-governed province.
Way forward
India should monitor cross-border terror spillover along the western front and Pakistan's internal stability vis-à-vis Afghanistan.
Concept
India's Art 356 (President's Rule): parliamentary approval within 2 months, max 3 years; S.R. Bommai (1994) made it judicially reviewable with floor test. The 44th Amendment (1978) replaced 'internal disturbance' with 'armed rebellion' in Art 352.
9. Mizoram to count refugees separately in Census 2027
GS2 – Refugee policy, Centre–State issues; GS3 – Border management. Prelims: Census 2027, Free Movement Regime, 1951 Refugee Convention.
Context
Mizoram will enumerate refugees and displaced persons separately in the 2027 Census; as of 20 August, 38,213 people were registered with the State.
Key facts
29,575 from Myanmar (mostly Chin), 6,959 IDPs from Manipur, 1,679 from Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts).
Biometric enrolment of Myanmar refugees at 98.9%; refugees need not disclose Aadhaar.
Census 2027 is India's first digital Census and will also enumerate caste; reference date 1 March 2027.
Way forward
Separate data can guide humanitarian aid and border policy; India needs a national refugee framework balancing security and non-refoulement.
Concept
India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and has no refugee law; foreigners are governed by the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. FMR along the 1,643 km India–Myanmar border allowed visa-free movement (cut from 16 km to 10 km).
Donut chart of 38,213 registered refugees and displaced persons in Mizoram: 29,575 from Myanmar, 6,959 IDPs from Manipur and 1,679 from Bangladesh. — StudyForGS
10. RTI transparency audit: only 63% of public authorities file third-party audit reports
REPORTUPSC: Prelims + Mains GS2 (Governance)
Syllabus linkage
GS2 – Transparency and accountability, statutory bodies. Prelims: RTI Act 2005, Sec 4 suo motu disclosure, CIC.
Context
An analysis of Central Information Commission (CIC) records flags weak compliance with proactive disclosure under Section 4 of the RTI Act, measured through third-party transparency audits.
Key facts
Of 2,303 public authorities registered with CIC, only 1,446 (~62.8%) submitted third-party audit reports.
More than half of submitted reports scored Grade C or below.
Only 33 of 94 department websites carried 2024-25 audit reports.
About 23 lakh RTI requests handled in 2024-25; 5.1 lakh pending.
Way forward
Make Sec 4 audits mandatory and public, fill Information Commission vacancies and link disclosure scores to departmental performance.
Concept
Sec 4(1)(b) lists items to be proactively disclosed. CIC is a statutory body (Sec 12). The RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 let the Centre fix tenure and salaries of Information Commissioners; DPDP Act 2023 amended Sec 8(1)(j) (personal information).
Horizontal bar chart comparing 2,303 public authorities registered with CIC against 1,446 that filed third-party audit reports, and 94 department websites against 33 with 2024-25 audit reports. — StudyForGS
11. Katchatheevu: Sri Lanka's President says India has acknowledged island belongs to Sri Lanka
IRUPSC: Prelims + Mains GS2 (IR)
Syllabus linkage
GS2 – India and its neighbourhood; GS1 – Geography. Prelims: Palk Strait, 1974 & 1976 agreements, Berubari case.
Context
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said India had acknowledged in its Supreme Court that Katchatheevu belongs to Sri Lanka, after Attorney General R. Venkataramani told the Court that India will not reopen the 1974 and 1976 agreements.
Key facts
Uninhabited islet of about 285 acres in the Palk Strait, north-east of Rameswaram.
1974 agreement (Indira Gandhi – Sirimavo Bandaranaike) placed it on Sri Lanka's side; 1976 pact ended fishing rights.
AG: fishermen's issues to be handled diplomatically; matter listed for hearing in February 2027.
Annual St. Anthony's Church festival on the island draws pilgrims from both countries.
Way forward
Resolve the fishermen issue via the Joint Working Group, phase out bottom trawling and promote deep-sea fishing off Tamil Nadu.
Concept
Berubari Union case (1960): ceding Indian territory needs a constitutional amendment under Art 368. The government's stand is that Katchatheevu was never demarcated Indian territory, so no amendment was required.
India in News locator map with numbered pins: 1 Jodhpur (Tarang Shakti), 2 Kolkata (NGOPV Shreyas), 3 Mizoram (refugee census), 4 Katchatheevu in the Palk Strait, 5 New Delhi (Supreme Court directions), 6 Ukhrul, Manipur (ethnic clashes). Boundaries as per India's official position. — StudyForGS
Data point of the day
$734.6 billion
India's foreign exchange reserves (week ended 2 October 2026) Down $12.95 bn in a week – the 4th straight weekly fall – and $51.1 bn below the record $785.7 bn (week ended 4 Sep) as RBI defends the rupee. Foreign currency assets $604.7 bn, gold $106.4 bn, SDRs $18.7 bn; reserves cover about 11 months of imports.
Prelims rapid-fire
Nobel Peace Prize 2026: Navi Pillay, ex-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and ICTR judge; 125th Peace Prize, to be presented in Oslo on 10 December.
Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport hit by Houthi-claimed missile strikes; India condemned the attacks and issued an advisory for nationals in Saudi Arabia.
Russia–Ukraine 'energy ceasefire' announced by the US President – both sides to stop striking refineries and power systems.
Manipur: Kuki–Naga clashes in Kamjong, Kangpokpi and Ukhrul left 9 dead; ITBP and SSB companies deployed.
Kerala Assembly set to move a resolution seeking removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar – CEC is removable only like a SC judge (Art 324(5)).
Norway proposes temporary curbs on smart glasses in schools, hospitals and museums over covert recording and privacy concerns.
Practice MCQs — UPSC Prelims pattern
Q1. With reference to the TRISHNA mission, consider the following statements: 1. It is a joint mission of ISRO and the French space agency CNES. 2. It will be placed in a geostationary orbit. 3. Its thermal infrared payload is designed to estimate land surface temperature and evapotranspiration. How many of the statements given above are correct?
Only one
Only two
All three
None
Show answer
Answer: B Statements 1 and 3 are correct. TRISHNA will fly in a sun-synchronous polar orbit (~761 km), not a geostationary orbit.
Q2. After the RBI's October 2026 policy, the repo rate stands at 5.5%. Which of the following correctly gives the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rates respectively?
5.00% and 6.00%
5.25% and 5.75%
5.75% and 5.25%
5.50% and 6.00%
Show answer
Answer: B The LAF corridor is repo ± 25 bps: SDF (floor) 5.25% and MSF (ceiling) 5.75%; the Bank Rate is aligned with MSF.
Mains practice question
Q. The right to protest is an essential facet of democracy, but it must be balanced with public order. In the light of recent judicial directions, examine the constitutional safeguards against arbitrary preventive detention and restrictions on movement and internet during protests. (250 words, 15 marks)
Hint / approach
Intro: Art 19(1)(a),(b) and 19(3). Body: Art 21, 22 safeguards; habeas corpus; Anita Thakur (2016), Amit Sahni (2020) on public spaces; Anuradha Bhasin (2020) proportionality; ADM Jabalpur overruled. Way forward: SOPs, data disclosure, police accountability.
