UPSC Weekly Current Affairs | 5 to 11 October 2026
Updated: 6 days ago
This Week’s Top Current Affairs: Important national and international developments from 5–11 October 2026, explained for UPSC Prelims and Mains with key facts, analysis and practice questions.
Reports
• Living Planet Report 2026
— Recently, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) biennial Living Planet Report, 2026, has been released. For three decades, this WWF Report has tracked the state of the natural world.
— The latest edition reveals the scale of nature’s decline but it also highlights something equally important: it is possible for nature to recover when we act together.
— The average size of monitored vertebrate populations declined 73% over 52 years between 1970 and 2022, according to the Living Planet Report, 2026.
— The strongest declines were seen in freshwater ecosystems with average population sizes plunging 85%, followed by terrestrial ecosystems, at 69% and marine ecosystems at 59%.
— At a regional level, the steepest declines since 1970 have been recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (-95%), Africa (-80%), and Asia and the Pacific (-49%).
— Habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation of resources, climate change, impact of invasive species, pollution and disease are some of the dominant drivers of changes across ecosystems and wildlife populations. The way the world produces and consumes food is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss.
— The report highlights recoveries in populations of green turtles, bluefin tuna, tigers and southern African elephants, which, it said, demonstrate that targeted conservation interventions can deliver proven results. The report noted rise in global wild tiger numbers between 2010 and 2025 — from 3,200 to around 5,700 individuals.
• Global Innovation Index 2026
— The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has released the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2026, which tracks and ranks science and technology hubs across the globe.
— The 19th edition of the GII ranks the most innovative economies in the world in 2026 amongst 139 economies and reveals where innovation clusters are located. The Index ranks world economies on roughly 80 indicators, grouped into innovation inputs and outputs.
— For the 16th consecutive year, Switzerland is the most innovative economy in 2026 followed by Sweden and the United States.
— According to the report, the Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou cluster emerged as the world’s most innovative cluster overall. Tokyo–Yokohama ranked second, followed by San Jose–San Francisco at No. 3, which topped the index for innovation intensity. Bengaluru and Delhi were ranked at No. 25 and No. 27 in the list, respectively.
— India ranks 38th among the 139 economies featured in the GII 2026. India ranks 1st among the 36 Lower middle-income group economies and among the 11 economies in Central and Southern Asia.
— India performs better in innovation outputs than innovation inputs in 2026. This year India ranks 49th in innovation inputs. This position is higher than last year. India ranks 25th in innovation outputs. This position is higher than last year.
Read in Detail | India Ranks 38th, Leads Lower Middle-Income Economies
International Cooperation
• India-Switzerland strengthen ties
— India and Switzerland signed pacts on mobility that will ease granting longer-duration visas and the exchange of young professionals and agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence and nuclear energy sectors, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Swiss President Guy Parmelin on October 5.
— An agreement was also inked for collaboration on transport and infrastructure. Notably, in October last year, the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, came into force.
• India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor
— The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) has gained renewed attention amid the conflicts in West Asia and risks to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. On October 6, 2026, France’s Special Envoy for IMEC highlighted the growing need for a resilient network of alternative trade routes.
— The IMEC is a landmark project announced during the G20 Leaders’ event in New Delhi in 2023. It was aimed at stimulating economic development through enhanced connectivity and economic integration between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
— It is a connectivity project that seeks to develop a seamless infrastructure of ports, railways, roads, sea lines and pipelines to enhance trade among India, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean region and Europe.
— It will have two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Arabian Gulf to Europe, along with a railway route for supplementing trade exchanges between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe.
— India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, France, Germany, Italy, the European Union and the United States signed an MoU for its development, linked to the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII).
• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
— The United States Trade Representative (USTR) this week began an investigation into the European Union’s expansion of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) — a move that could ratchet up trade tensions between the two sides.
— The USTR said that CBAM is a carbon pricing mechanism that requires EU importers of covered products in the aluminium, cement, electricity, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron and steel sectors to declare the embedded emissions of the imported goods, and the regulation intends to apply to imported goods a carbon price that is equivalent to the carbon price that EU producers pay.
— In simple terms, CBAM is an import duty that is imposed by Europe on goods produced in other countries by processes that lead to greater carbon emissions than domestic European manufacturers are allowed to emit. Notably, earlier New Delhi BRICS declaration also opposed CBAM.
Permanent Labour Certification Programme— The US has suspended a host of major global IT companies, including Indian players, from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme (PERM). This was, in theory, expected to disrupt the operations of Indian IT companies that provide services to US-based companies. — Permanent Labour Certification Programme is basically the first step for US employers to obtain an employment-based green card for foreign national employees who are in the US via temporary H-1B visas. |
Polity
• Section 163 of the BNSS
— Ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests planned in Delhi on October 10 & 11, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Delhi Police denied permission for the gathering.
— In 2024, with the BNSS replacing the CrPC, Section 163 of the BNSS replaced Section 144 of the CrPC, which empowers an Executive Magistrate to act where “there is sufficient ground for proceeding under this section and immediate prevention or speedy remedy is desirable”.
— It is enforced through a written order, directing “any person to abstain from a certain act or to take certain order with respect to certain property”, where the direction is likely to prevent “obstruction, annoyance or injury to any person lawfully employed, or danger to human life, health or safety or a disturbance of the public tranquillity, or a riot, or an affray”.
— The provision assumes that a magistrate is responding to something specific and immediate, that the order is specific to that threat, and that it lapses within two months once the threat has passed.
Do you Know?— Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution protects the right to free speech and expression. Clause (b) guarantees the right to assemble peacefully and without arms. These provisions protect a citizen’s ability to gather and express dissent. But neither right is absolute. — Article 19(2) permits restrictions on speech on specific grounds, including public order, while 19(3) allows “reasonable restrictions” on peaceful assembly in the interest of public order. |
• Mahanadi water dispute
— The Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh is back in the spotlight, with the Odisha government signalling that the two BJP-ruled states are moving closer to an “amicable solution”.
— The dispute dates back to 2016, when Odisha objected to Chhattisgarh’s construction of a series of barrages and other structures on the Mahanadi and its tributaries. Odisha argued that the projects would reduce downstream flows, particularly during the non-monsoon period.
— Chhattisgarh has maintained that, given the river’s catchment area in the state, it is within its rights to use Mahanadi water for its requirements.
— The Mahanadi river originates near Pharsiya village in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district and flows for about 851 km before merging with the Bay of Bengal. Of this, around 357 km lies in Chhattisgarh and 494 km in Odisha. The river flows through several districts in Odisha, while its wider basin covers 14 districts in the state.
Economy
• RBI hiked interest rates
— The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased its policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.50 per cent, marking the first rate hike since February 2023 and signalling a shift towards tighter monetary policy amid rising inflationary pressures, elevated crude oil prices and a challenging global interest-rate environment.
— The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has changed the policy stance to ‘calibrated tightening’ from ‘neutral’ indicating further hike in the interest rates is a likelihood.
— The decision by the policy panel to hike rates comes after nearly two years of monetary accommodation. The increase is expected to push up borrowing costs across the economy, affecting interest rates on home, personal and vehicle loans, while also providing some support to deposit rates.
What is Monetary Policy Committee?* Under Section 45ZB of the amended RBI Act, 1934, the central government is empowered to constitute a six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to determine the policy interest rate required to achieve the inflation target. The first such MPC was constituted on September 29, 2016. * Section 45ZB lays down that “the Monetary Policy Committee shall determine the Policy Rate required to achieve the inflation target”, and that “the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee shall be binding on the Bank”. * The MPC is required to meet at least four times per year. The MPC meets with a quorum of four members. Each member of the MPC has one vote, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Governor has a second or casting vote. |
• Rural Consumer Confidence Survey and Current Situation Index
— Rural consumer sentiment in India has weakened steadily through 2026, with households becoming increasingly pessimistic about the economy, jobs and their own incomes, even as they continue to expect spending to rise.
— The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) September 2026 Rural Consumer Confidence Survey (RCCS) points to a widening gap between how rural and semi-urban households view their current circumstances and what they hope will happen over the next year.
— The RBI’s Current Situation Index (CSI), which captures perceptions of the economy, employment, prices, income and spending compared with a year ago, fell to 90.6 in September, from 91.7 in July. This is the sixth consecutive decline from 100.5 in January, and marks a sharp deterioration from 100.9 in September 2025.
Andhra government declares droughtThe Andhra Pradesh government has declared 388 of its 688 mandals — across 21 districts — as drought affected with 283 being classified as ‘severely affected’ and 105 ‘moderately affected’. The declaration was made as per the Manual for Drought Management, 2016 issued by the Government of India. |
• Account aggregator ‘interoperability’
— The central bank on October 7 allowed “interoperability among NBFC Account aggregators, enabling aggregation of financial information through all account aggregators from one account aggregator”.
— After the monetary policy statement, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “We are also facilitating SEBI regulated depositories to include information related to deposit accounts in their consolidated account statement (CAS). The measures will be implemented by December 31, 2026.”
— Account aggregators are non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) who store and move the user’s banking data without having the permission to access it. They act as a secure bridge for banking data, allowing lenders to access all relevant data swiftly for faster loan disbursements, or manage consent for other companies attempting to fetch your data.
— With the RBI opening the door for interoperability between aggregators, investors will now get a single CAS capturing fixed deposits, recurring deposits, mutual funds, and all other financial instruments regulated by the RBI and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This will simplify tracking investments for an average investor.
— The bottomline, thus, is a comprehensive overview of all investments across the banking and financial markets. On the banking side, this consolidated overview will only be limited to the assets you hold like deposits, and not your loans.
Science and Technology
• TAPAS-1
— Minutes after midnight in India on Thursday, a partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
— Among the 130 payloads on the flight was TAPAS-1, India’s first commercial private thermal-imaging payload, developed by Ahmedabad-based space technology startup Satleo Labs.
— The Thermal Access Platform for Analytics & Solutions (TAPAS) is a thermal infrared camera developed over a period of about 12 months by Satleo, a company founded in Ahmedabad in 2023 by spacetech entrepreneur.
— TAPAS-1 is a CubeSat-category payload, which are a class of cubical nanosatellites that typically measure 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm – roughly the size of a Rubik’s Cube – and are built using modular units and commercial components that are acquired off the shelf.
— CubeSats typically weigh between 1.3 kg and 2 kg per unit; TAPAS-1 weighs 1.5 kg. It has been designed to capture changes in the heat emitted from the Earth’s surface in the form of images.
— TAPAS-1 has been injected into an orbit 500 km high, from where the satellite will capture high-resolution images of heat and temperature variations at locations across the planet.
• Illegal HTBt Cotton
— More than a quarter of the total area cultivated under cotton in India comprises “illegal” hybrids incorporating unapproved genetically modified (GM) traits, including resistance to glyphosate herbicide.
— Out of the 114.8 lakh hectares (lh) area sown under cotton by Indian farmers in 2025-26, an estimated 26.2-29 lh, i.e. 24-30%, was of hybrids containing unauthorised herbicide-tolerant (HT) or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes, according to a field-based study commissioned by the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) and National Seed Association of India (NSAI).
— India currently allows farmers to grow GM cotton hybrids/ varieties containing only two genes — cry1Ac and cry2Ab — that are isolated from Bt, a soil bacterium. These genes code for proteins toxic to certain bollworm insect pests.
— But the FSII-NSAI study shows farmers are also planting the seeds of hybrids that contain cp4-epsps and Vip3A genes. Both these are alien genes, whose harbouring in any crops has not been approved by the government.
— The cp4-epsps gene, sourced from another soil-dwelling agrobacterium, makes cotton plants “tolerant” to glyphosate.
— This herbicide cannot be sprayed on normal cotton, as the chemical does not distinguish between the crop and weeds. The Vip3A gene is derived from Bt, but works differently from the cry1Ac/ cry2Ab genes and is said to effectively control a broader spectrum of bollworm larvae.
Cotton Production in India— According to pib.gov.in, India is the only country that cultivates all four recognized cotton species. These include G. Arboreum and G. Herbaceum, commonly referred to as Asian cotton. The other species are G. Barbadense, known as Egyptian cotton, and G. Hirsutum, known as American upland cotton. — Cotton production in India is largely concentrated in 9 major states, grouped into 3 distinct agro-ecological zones: Northern Zone comprising Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, Central Zone comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, Southern Zone comprising Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. In addition to these states, cotton is also grown in Odisha and Tamil Nadu. — India ranks first in the world in cotton cultivation area. India ranks second globally in both cotton production and consumption.” |
You might like this | Which GM Cotton Is Legally Allowed in India?
• WHO issues first ever guidelines on child & teen obesity
— For the first time, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on October 7 released guidelines on management of obesity in children and adolescents, strongly recommending against use of any weight loss drugs or surgery in children below the age of nine and only in very select cases in adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19.
— The guidelines allow the use of drugs and surgery for adolescents who are morbidly obese with lifestyle conditions such as type-2 diabetes, insulin resistance, or uncontrolled hypertension, and for those among whom lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise have failed to achieve any results after six months.
— The guidelines have strongly recommended the use of structured diets, physical activity and behaviour change, or all of these together for managing obesity in both children and adolescents. They recommend against the use of surgeries such as gastric bypass and drugs such as GLP-1 in children up to the age of nine years.
• Pneumonic plague
— Hundreds have been quarantined after a 28-year-old laboratory technician reportedly died of pneumonic plague in the Siberian region of Irkutsk in Russia, according to Moscow Times report.
— The pneumonic plague is caused by bacteria. It generally requires close exposure to respiratory droplets from an infected person, and person-to-person spread is much less common.
— Pneumonic plague is primarily acquired through inhalation of respiratory droplets from an infected person or animal with pneumonic plague.
— Antibiotics are effective against plague bacteria when given promptly.
• Lung cancer
— Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in India. In 2024, it accounted for 10.9% of all cancer deaths, or 98,687 deaths, up from 75,031 in 2022, when it ranked fourth.
— But lung cancer is a disease that is not usually screened for — and has no easy way to screen for — it is usually diagnosed when it has already spread.
— When diagnosed in late stages, the likelihood of surviving five years with lung cancer is just 7% to 18%. This can increase to 80% if the disease is detected in the first stage. LDCT (low-dose computed tomography) based lung cancer screening can reduce the mortality from lung cancer by treating the disease at an early stage.
Environment
• Great Indian bustards
— Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientists released two male great Indian bustards (GIB) in Rajasthan’s Desert National Park on October 4 , marking the first step in rewilding captive-bred GIBs raised at two conservation breeding centres at Ramdevra and Sam, Jaisalmer, under Project GIB.
— The project is being implemented for the long-term recovery of the critically endangered bird. Only about 150 GIBs remain in the wild. The GIB is the state bird of Rajasthan. Notably, Rajasthan has the largest remaining population of the GIBs.
— The Great Indian Bustard is a large bird found only in India. GIBs are the largest among the four bustard species found in India, the other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican and the Bengal florican.
— The large bird, a key indicator species of the grassland habitat, has faced population decline over the years due to hunting, habitat loss, and, in recent years, collisions with energy transmission lines that criss-cross their habitat in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
— Conservation status of GIB:
* IUCN Red List status of Great Indian Bustard: Critically Endangered
* Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
* Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS): Appendix I
* Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix 1
• Sal Heartwood Borer
— Hoplocerambyx spinicornis, commonly known as the sal heartwood borer, is a destructive pest first recorded as a threat to the trees in 1897. Now, it is at the centre of one of the largest sal-tree felling operations in Dindori (Madhya Pradesh) in recent years following a major infestation. A couple of weeks ago, Centre approved the felling of 1.47 lakh infected sal trees.
— The insect does not attack indiscriminately: it tends to target weaker, less vigorous trees, though it becomes capable of killing sal of varying ages once a tree’s girth exceeds 20 cm.
— More than 21 sal-borer epidemics have been documented across India to date. MP and neighbouring Chhattisgarh experienced a major outbreak between 1997 and 2000, during which roughly 3 lakh hectares of sal forest were affected out of the region’s 16.84 lakh hectare cover.
Sal tree and its uses— Sal, or Shorea robusta, is among the dominant tree species of central India’s dry deciduous forests, forming the backbone of tracts that run across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and parts of Uttar Pradesh. Its canopy makes up much of the habitat inside tiger reserves, such as Kanha and Pench. — Sal timber has historically been prized for construction and for railway sleepers because of its strength and resistance to decay. — The tree continues to support a range of non-timber produce on which forest-dwelling and tribal communities depend — sal seed, pressed for oil and used in cooking and in the soap and confectionery industries; sal leaves, stitched into plates and bowls sold across local markets; and resin tapped from the trunk, used as dhoop in religious offerings. |
Persons in News
• Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit
— Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit is set to become the next Chief of the Air Staff at the end of this month, the Ministry of Defence announced on September 6. The current Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, is due to retire on October 31.
— Air Marshal Dixit is currently serving as the Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF). During his four-decade-long service career, he has been actively involved in several operations and exercises, including Operation Safed Sagar, Operation Rakshak and Operation Sindoor.
Places in News
• Black Sea
— After four commercial ships with Indian seafarers were attacked in the Black Sea in less than 36 hours, India on Wednesday once again called for dialogue and diplomacy to de-escalate tensions and enable the early return of peace to the region.
— Black Sea is bordered by Ukraine to the north and northwest, Russia and Georgia to the east, Türkiye to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west. It links to the Sea of Marmara through the Bosphorus passage and then to the Aegean through the Dardanelles Strait.
— The Bosporus Strait unites the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara and separates parts of Asian Türkiye from European Türkiye.
— Dardanelles, a narrow strait in northwestern Türkiye, links the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara.
Awards
• Nobel Prizes 2026
— The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
Read in Detail | Why Is This Discovery Important?
— Francis Halzen has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”.
Read in Detail | Why Did the Nobel Committee Choose This Work?
— The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 has been awarded to Henri B Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”.
Read in Detail | Why the Nobel Committee Honoured Them
— Canadian poet, essayist and classicist Anne Carson has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”
Read in Detail | Why Did Anne Carson Win the Nobel Prize?
— The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on October 9 to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, 85, whose work — from the apartheid regime in her home country to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza — has helped shape legal precedents on key global issues.
Read in Detail | Why Did Navi Pillay Win the Nobel Peace Prize?
— The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Professor Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Professor Michael Woodford of Columbia University.
The Nobel Prize recognises the two economists "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation," honouring their groundbreaking work that reshaped modern macroeconomics and transformed how governments and central banks respond to recessions, inflation, and economic crises.
Read in Detail | Why Were They Awarded the Nobel Prize?
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