28 October 2026
Astronomers using the X-shooter instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope at Paranal, in Chile's Atacama Desert, have found a rare double disc of debris around the white dwarf J1328-1450. A white dwarf is the dead core left when a star like the Sun runs out of fuel. The two rings are separated by a clear gap and appear to be shaped by two surviving planetary bodies: the inner one perhaps a few kilometres across, the outer one possibly as large as Pluto or the Moon. The debris contains calcium, oxygen, magnesium and iron, and the two rings differ in composition. The study was published in Nature Astronomy. The lead author is Nicola Pietro Gentile Fusillo of the University of Trieste and INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Trieste; the team includes Felipe Lagos-Vilches of the University of Warwick and Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria in Chile.
White dwarf:
J1328-1450
Telescope:
Very Large Telescope, Paranal
Instrument:
X-shooter
Journal:
Nature Astronomy
Why it matters for exams: ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert and its Very Large Telescope are standard geography and science questions, and Nature Astronomy is the publisher an examiner names.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ESO European Southern Observatory — An intergovernmental astronomy organisation whose observing sites are in Chile.
28 October 2026
The European Southern Observatory says nearly 500 of the 931 segments made for the main mirror, M1, of the Extremely Large Telescope have now arrived in Chile, more than half the total produced. M1 itself uses 798 segments; the other 133 are spares, so a segment can be taken out for recoating without leaving a gap in the mirror. The segments are received, inspected and coated at the ELT Technical Facility at ESO's Paranal Observatory, and the telescope is being built on Cerro Armazones nearby. ESO describes the ELT as a 39-metre eye on the sky. SCHOTT in Germany made the glass-ceramic blanks and Safran Reosc in France figures, polishes and mounts the segments. The project is more than 75 per cent complete and the first observations with science instruments are planned for late 2030.
Segments arrived in Chile:
nearly 500 of 931
Segments in M1:
798
Spare segments:
133
Telescope size:
39-metre
Site:
Cerro Armazones
First science observations:
late 2030
Why it matters for exams: The ELT, its 39-metre aperture and its site at Cerro Armazones next to Paranal are the facts asked about the world's largest optical telescope.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ELT Extremely Large Telescope — ESO's 39-metre optical and near-infrared telescope being built in Chile.
28 October 2026
The Consejo of the Banco Central de Chile decided unanimously to keep the Tasa de Politica Monetaria (TPM) at 4,5%. It said risks to inflation have risen appreciably, pointing to higher energy and food prices, tension in the Middle East and an intense El Nino; oil has risen about 25% since September. Activity has been weaker than expected: the Imacec fell 1% year on year in August, mainly because of mining, and third-quarter indicators show weak consumption and weaker investment. Financial conditions have tightened, with the peso depreciating, the IPSA falling and long-term nominal rates rising. Annual inflation was 4,1% in September, and the bank restated its aim of bringing inflation to 3% within two years. It said future moves will be weighed meeting by meeting. The Consejo meets again on 15 December.
Policy rate (TPM):
4,5%
Vote:
Unanimous
Annual inflation, September:
4,1%
Inflation target:
3%
Imacec, August:
-1% year on year
Next meeting:
15 December
Why it matters for exams: The Banco Central de Chile is the country's central bank and its 3% inflation target and the TPM are the standing facts behind any rate question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
TPM Tasa de Politica Monetaria — Chile's monetary policy rate, the rate the central bank sets.
Imacec Indice Mensual de Actividad Economica — Chile's monthly index of economic activity.
28 October 2026
The Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (INE), Chile's national statistics office, puts the monthly change in the Indice de Precios al Consumidor (IPC) at 0,4% for September 2026. The series runs on the annual base 2023=100. INE also reported a monthly change of 2,9% in the Indice de Costos del Transporte (ICT), also on base 2023=100, and 2,7% in the Indice de Precios de Productor for industry (IPP), on base 2019=100. INE's national head office is at Morande N 801 in Santiago.
IPC, monthly change:
0,4%
IPC base:
2023=100
ICT, monthly change:
2,9%
IPP, monthly change:
2,7%
Publisher:
Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (INE)
Why it matters for exams: INE is the body that publishes Chile's IPC, and the publisher of an index is the fact examiners ask for.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Indice de Precios al Consumidor — Chile's consumer price index, published by INE.
INE Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas — Chile's national statistics office.
28 October 2026
The Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (INE) puts Chile's national unemployment rate (tasa de desocupacion nacional) at 9,6% for the moving quarter June-August 2026. The national informal employment rate was 26,3% in the same moving quarter, and the combined rate of unemployment and involuntary part-time work was 16,2%. INE's nominal wage index (Indice Nominal de Remuneraciones) was 7,6% higher over twelve months to August 2026 and its nominal labour cost index 8,3% higher, both figures provisional. INE reports these series as three-month moving quarters rather than single months.
Unemployment rate:
9,6%
Informal employment rate:
26,3%
Unemployment plus involuntary part-time:
16,2%
Nominal wage index, 12 months:
7,6%
Moving quarter:
June-August 2026
Why it matters for exams: INE is Chile's national statistics office and the informal employment rate is the labour statistic an examiner can set a question on.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
INE Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas — Chile's national statistics office, which runs the labour force survey.
28 October 2026
Ley N 21.850, 'para la Reconstruccion Nacional y el Desarrollo Economico y Social', was published in Chile's Diario Oficial a little over a week after President Jose Antonio Kast promulgated it, and its measures begin in November. From 1 November the law cuts the Regimen Pyme monthly provisional payment (PPM) rate from 0,25% to 0,23%, gives a tax credit to exporters of knowledge-based services of 15% for workers in the Metropolitan Region and 20% for workers elsewhere or in rural communes, scales Sence training support by worker pay, and allows the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) to share information with other state bodies. From 1 December the first sale of a new finished home is exempt from VAT for a year and the donations tax is halved, with the judicial insinuacion step removed. A capital repatriation regime taxed at 7% to 10% opens in 2027 for one year. The Tesoreria General de la Republica may, for 180 days, forgive up to 100% of interest and 80% of fines on debts due as of 31 December 2025. The measure came from the Ministerio de Hacienda.
Law:
Ley N 21.850
Regimen Pyme PPM rate:
0,25% to 0,23%
Credit for knowledge-service exporters:
15% / 20%
Capital repatriation tax:
7% to 10%
Ministry:
Ministerio de Hacienda
Why it matters for exams: A law takes effect in Chile on publication in the Diario Oficial, and the Ministerio de Hacienda, the SII and the Tesoreria General de la Republica are the institutions a paper names.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SII Servicio de Impuestos Internos — Chile's internal revenue service.
Diario Oficial Diario Oficial de la Republica de Chile — The official gazette in which Chilean laws are published.
28 October 2026
President Jose Antonio Kast promulgated at the Palacio de La Moneda a law that lengthens the maximum period within which an offence can still be treated as flagrancia - caught in the act or immediately after - by amending Chile's Codigo Procesal Penal. It is the first measure of the government's Agenda contra el Crimen Organizado y el Terrorismo (ACOT) to clear the Congreso Nacional. The government asked Congress to move faster on the remaining ACOT bills.
Code amended:
Codigo Procesal Penal
Agenda:
Agenda contra el Crimen Organizado y el Terrorismo (ACOT)
Promulgated at:
Palacio de La Moneda
Why it matters for exams: The Codigo Procesal Penal is Chile's criminal procedure code and ACOT is the named security agenda behind the reform - both durable Polity facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ACOT Agenda contra el Crimen Organizado y el Terrorismo — The Chilean government's legislative agenda against organised crime and terrorism.
28 October 2026
President Jose Antonio Kast of Chile and President Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia signed five agreements in La Paz. The first is the modernisation of ACE-22, the trade agreement between the two countries, to be negotiated in two phases beginning with trade facilitation, rules of origin and investment promotion. The second covers a bi-oceanic fibre-optic corridor starting in Arica y Parinacota and running through the Visviri and Charana border crossings, still at the study stage. The third is on mining cooperation - exploration, geology, critical minerals and technology exchange. The fourth is an energy declaration setting a framework to study a possible electricity interconnection, without creating one yet. The fifth is a Joint Presidential Declaration listing shared priorities such as economic integration, connectivity and consular and migration cooperation, and backing a reversal of the Sica Sica-Arica oil pipeline.
Agreements signed:
Five
Trade agreement modernised:
ACE-22
Fibre-optic corridor crossings:
Visviri and Charana
Pipeline to be reversed:
Sica Sica-Arica
Meeting place:
La Paz
Why it matters for exams: ACE-22 is the named Chile-Bolivia trade agreement, and Arica is the northern Chilean port city through which Bolivian trade and the proposed pipeline run.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ACE-22 Acuerdo de Complementacion Economica N 22 — The economic complementation agreement that governs Chile-Bolivia trade.
28 October 2026
Chile's Servicio Nacional de Prevencion y Respuesta ante Desastres (Senapred) cancelled its yellow alert and declared a red alert for ten communes of the Region Metropolitana - San Jose de Maipo, Puente Alto, Pirque, La Florida, Penalolen, La Reina, Las Condes, Lo Barnechea, Vitacura and Colina - because of the risk of remocion en masa, the mass movement of earth and rock. Sernageomin rated the likelihood of aluviones and derrumbes as high in the precordillera, moderate in the coastal range and the central valley, and low in the Andean cordillera of the region. The forecast was for 15 to 25 mm of rain over Santiago in short, intense bursts, with electrical activity and possible hail.
Alert level:
Red alert
Communes under alert:
10
Region:
Region Metropolitana
Rainfall expected over Santiago:
15 to 25 mm
Hazard rated by:
Sernageomin
Why it matters for exams: Senapred and Sernageomin are the two Chilean agencies named in any disaster item, and Santiago lies in the Region Metropolitana at the foot of the Andes.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Senapred Servicio Nacional de Prevencion y Respuesta ante Desastres — Chile's national disaster prevention and response service.
Sernageomin Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria — Chile's national geology and mining service, which rates volcanic and landslide hazard.
28 October 2026
Chile's government has sent the Presupuesto 2027 bill to the Camara de Diputados. It sets net total spending of $105,8 billones, more than US$111 billion, which is 1,5% higher than projected execution for 2026. The message accompanying the bill is attributed to President Jose Antonio Kast. The Minister of Hacienda, Jorge Quiroz, handed the bill to the vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, Ximena Ossandon, in the office of the Chamber's presidency at the Congreso Nacional. The Direccion de Presupuestos (Dipres) presents the Informe de Finanzas Publicas to the Comision Especial Mixta de Presupuestos, the joint committee of both chambers that handles the budget.
Net total spending:
$105,8 billones
In dollars:
more than US$111 billion
Growth over 2026 execution:
1,5%
Budget office:
Direccion de Presupuestos (Dipres)
Committee:
Comision Especial Mixta de Presupuestos
Why it matters for exams: Chile's budget is examined by the Comision Especial Mixta de Presupuestos, a joint committee of the Congreso Nacional, and Dipres is the budget office that reports to it.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Dipres Direccion de Presupuestos — Chile's budget office, under the Ministerio de Hacienda.
Background
ESO's news this week - the double debris disc found with the Very Large Telescope and the arrival of more than half the Extremely Large Telescope's mirror segments - both come from the same place, so the place is worth knowing. ESO's Paranal Observatory stands at 2635 metres above sea level in the Atacama Desert of Chile. ESO calls it one of the very best astronomical observing sites in the world and the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy. Paranal hosts the Very Large Telescope and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), along with other scientific and support facilities.
Altitude:
2635 metres above sea level
Desert:
Atacama Desert, Chile
Telescopes hosted:
Very Large Telescope; VISTA
Operator:
European Southern Observatory
Why it matters for exams: Paranal's altitude of 2635 metres, its location in the Atacama Desert and the telescopes it hosts are the standing facts behind every ESO question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
VISTA Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy — A survey telescope at Paranal.
Background
Bolivia's claim to sovereign access to the Pacific stayed off the agenda when Chile and Bolivia signed their five agreements in La Paz, so the case behind that claim is worth knowing. It is Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v. Chile) before the International Court of Justice. Bolivia instituted proceedings against Chile on 24 April 2013, arguing that Chile had committed itself through agreements, diplomatic practice and declarations by its highest representatives to negotiate in good faith a fully sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean for Bolivia. As the basis for the Court's jurisdiction Bolivia invoked Article XXXI of the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement, the Pact of Bogota of 30 April 1948. Chile filed a preliminary objection to jurisdiction on 15 July 2014; by its judgment of 24 September 2015 the Court rejected that objection and found it had jurisdiction. Hearings on the merits were held in March 2018 and the Court gave judgment on 1 October 2018, concluding that none of the legal bases invoked by Bolivia established an obligation for Chile to negotiate Bolivia's sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean. The Court added that this finding should not be understood as precluding the parties from continuing their dialogue and exchanges in a spirit of good neighbourliness.
Case:
Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v. Chile)
Court:
International Court of Justice
Jurisdiction invoked:
Article XXXI, Pact of Bogota
Judgment on jurisdiction:
24 September 2015
Judgment on the merits:
1 October 2018
Why it matters for exams: The Pact of Bogota is the inter-American treaty that gives the International Court of Justice jurisdiction in the Americas, and this is the case in which Chile's obligation to negotiate was held not to exist.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICJ International Court of Justice — The principal judicial organ of the United Nations, which settles disputes between states.
Pact of Bogota American Treaty on Pacific Settlement — The 1948 inter-American treaty on the peaceful settlement of disputes.