21 October 2026
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a law revising the Latin-based Uzbek alphabet on 21 October 2026, Uzbek Language Day.
The combinations Sh, Ch, Oʻ and Gʻ are replaced by the single letters Ş, Ç, Ö and Ğ.
Ng is no longer treated as a separate letter combination.
The revised alphabet has 28 letters and one apostrophe.
Existing documents, the national currency and securities remain valid.
Textbooks, signs and road signs will be replaced gradually as they reach the end of their service life.
The revised alphabet is to be introduced on 22 April 2027.
Letters in revised alphabet:
28 + apostrophe
New letters:
Ş, Ç, Ö, Ğ
Signed on:
Uzbek Language Day
To be introduced:
22 April 2027
Why it matters for exams: Script reforms in Turkic Central Asia are a recurring topic in language, culture and polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
21 October 2026
The UN-backed World Summit Investing in Children's Wellbeing opened in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 21 October 2026.
It brought together more than 600 participants from over 100 countries.
The Government of Uzbekistan organised it with the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message that "when we invest in children, we invest in the future".
UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman noted that only 36 per cent of assessable SDG targets are on track or making moderate progress.
He set out four priorities, beginning with "put children before process".
Participants:
more than 600 from over 100 countries
SDG targets on track or moderate progress:
36 per cent
Why it matters for exams: Global summits hosted by Central Asian states and the agencies behind them are asked in international-affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SDG Sustainable Development Goals — The 17 UN goals for 2030.
21 October 2026
The Second International Congress on Childhood Cancer is being held in Samarkand on 21–22 October 2026 alongside the World Summit on children's well-being.
It is dedicated to paediatric oncology and haematology.
According to WHO, more than 80 per cent of children with cancer are cured in high-income countries, but below 30 per cent in many low and middle-income countries.
The UN Secretary-General called this "an unacceptable inequality driven by inadequate investment and weak social services".
Cancer is diagnosed in around 400,000 children and adolescents worldwide each year.
WHO aims to raise the global survival rate to at least 60 per cent by 2030.
Cure rate, high-income countries:
more than 80 per cent
Cure rate, many low and middle-income countries:
below 30 per cent
New cases each year:
around 400,000
WHO survival target by 2030:
at least 60 per cent
Why it matters for exams: WHO targets and global health inequality figures are frequently asked in health and international-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
21 October 2026
At the Samarkand summit on 21 October 2026, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan Sabine Mahl gave figures on child welfare.
Preschool enrolment in Uzbekistan has risen from 27 per cent in 2017 to 78 per cent in 2026.
More than 10,000 children with disabilities attend mainstream schools.
About 1.5 million families receive social assistance.
In 2025 Uzbekistan adopted a law to protect children from all forms of violence, and an action strategy for 2026–2030.
More than half of Uzbekistan's population is under 30.
Preschool enrolment 2017:
27 per cent
Preschool enrolment 2026:
78 per cent
Families receiving social assistance:
about 1.5 million
Why it matters for exams: Social-sector indicators and child-protection laws of partner countries are useful for comparative development questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
UNESCO lists eight World Heritage properties in Uzbekistan: six cultural and two natural.
Itchan Kala, the walled inner town of the old Khiva oasis, was the first, inscribed in 1990.
The Historic Centre of Bukhara followed in 1993, the Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz in 2000 and Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures in 2001.
Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor was inscribed in 2023, and Tashkent Modernist Architecture. Modernity and Tradition in Central Asia in 2026.
The natural properties are Western Tien-Shan (2016) and Cold Winter Deserts of Turan (2023).
World Heritage properties:
8 (6 cultural, 2 natural)
First inscribed:
Itchan Kala (1990)
Why it matters for exams: Silk Road cities and their World Heritage listings are standard art-and-culture questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died in Tashkent on January 11, 1966.
He died a day after the Tashkent Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan after the 1965 War.
Tashkent is now the capital of Uzbekistan, then part of the Soviet Union.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid floral tributes at Shastri's statue on Shastri Street in Tashkent in November 2019, during a visit for an SCO meeting.
Shastri's death:
January 11, 1966, Tashkent
Agreement:
Tashkent Agreement, India–Pakistan
Why it matters for exams: The Tashkent Agreement and Shastri's death in Tashkent are among the most asked facts on India–Uzbekistan ties and the 1965 war.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
Background
DUSTLIK is the joint military exercise of India and Uzbekistan.
Its 7th edition was scheduled at the Gurumsaray Field Training Area in Uzbekistan from 12 to 25 April 2026.
The 60-member Indian contingent comprised 45 Army personnel, mainly from a battalion of the MAHAR Regiment, and 15 Indian Air Force personnel.
It focused on joint operations in semi-mountainous terrain.
The previous edition was held at the Foreign Training Node in Aundh, Pune, in April 2025.
Exercise:
DUSTLIK
Latest edition:
7th, 12–25 April 2026
Indian regiment:
MAHAR Regiment
Why it matters for exams: Names of India's bilateral military exercises with each partner are a staple of defence questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
Background
Uzbekistan is a lower-middle-income country in Central Asia with the region's largest population.
It is one of only two doubly-landlocked countries in the world.
It is the only country that borders all four other Central Asian states: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
It also borders Afghanistan.
The World Bank notes that GDP growth averaged 6% annually between 2017 and 2025.
The national poverty rate fell from 17.0% to 5.8% between 2021 and 2025.
Neighbours:
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan
Poverty rate 2021 → 2025:
17.0% → 5.8%
Why it matters for exams: Doubly landlocked status and the neighbours of Central Asian states are favourite map-based questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
Doubly landlocked — A landlocked country surrounded only by other landlocked countries.
Background
The Aral Sea is an endorheic (terminal) lake on the Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan border; it has no outlet.
It is fed by two rivers: the Syr Darya flows into its northern part and the Amu Darya into its southern part.
"Darya" means river in the Turkic languages of Central Asia.
It was once the world's fourth-largest lake, covering about 68,000 square kilometers.
Diversion of its two rivers to irrigate crops has reduced it to about 10 percent of its original area since the 1960s.
It has split into the North and South Aral Sea; the Kok-Aral Dam was completed in 2005 to control the water level of the North Aral Sea.
The dried lakebed has become the Aralkum Desert, spanning 62,000 square kilometers.
Original area:
about 68,000 square kilometers
Present size:
about 10 percent
Aralkum Desert:
62,000 square kilometers
Why it matters for exams: The Aral Sea disaster is a classic environment and geography question, often linked to the Amu Darya and Syr Darya.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Endorheic lake — A lake with no outflow to the sea; water leaves only by evaporation.
Background
Uzbekistan was a constituent republic of the USSR and became independent when Soviet rule ended in 1991.
Its capital is Tashkent.
Islam Karimov led the country from 1989 until his death in 2016; his successor is Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who had been prime minister from 2003 to 2016.
Uzbekistan, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan launched the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001.
The United States recognised Uzbekistan's independence on December 25, 1991, and established diplomatic relations on February 19, 1992.
Capital:
Tashkent
SCO founded:
2001
US recognition:
December 25, 1991
Why it matters for exams: Capitals, first leaders and the founding members of the SCO are among the most asked Central Asia facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — Eurasian grouping launched by six states including Uzbekistan.