29 September 2026
The Reserve Bank of Australia's Monetary Policy Board raised the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.60 per cent on 29 September 2026.
Its statement says inflation remains elevated and some of the upside risks flagged in August are materialising.
The Board pointed to a Middle East conflict pushing global energy prices higher and AI-related demand lifting technology goods prices.
ABC News reports it is the fourth rate rise of 2026 and the highest cash rate since November 2011.
The Board said it remains attentive to the data.
New cash rate target:
4.60 per cent
Increase:
25 basis points
Decision body:
Monetary Policy Board
Why it matters for exams: Central bank rate decisions and the inflation drivers behind them are staple questions in economy and current-affairs papers.
UPSCSSCBank
29 September 2026
WHO's report on global trends in cholera, meningitis and plague covers 2025.
47 countries reported 451,499 cholera cases and 7,870 deaths to WHO, with deaths up 30 per cent on 2024.
Angola, Bangladesh, DRC, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen accounted for about 90 per cent of cases and deaths.
Oral cholera vaccine production more than doubled from about 30 million doses in 2022 to about 80 million in 2025.
In the African meningitis belt of 26 countries, 24 reported 21,526 suspected cases and 971 deaths in 2025.
For 2019 to 2025, 10 countries reported suspected plague, with DRC and Madagascar reporting most cases.
Cholera deaths in 2025:
7,870
Cholera cases in 2025:
451,499
Countries reporting:
47
Meningitis belt countries:
26
Why it matters for exams: WHO disease surveillance figures and vaccine facts are regular questions in health and current-affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
29 September 2026
The UN Security Council on Tuesday 29 September 2026 extended the mandate of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti by six months.
The mandate now runs until 31 March 2027.
China, Russia and Pakistan abstained, citing concerns over insufficient funds, personnel and efficacy.
US ambassador Mike Waltz said around 1,500 GSF troops are now deployed in Haiti.
The force stands at less than 30 per cent of its intended size.
Haiti's leaders first called for international security support in 2022.
Mandate extension:
Six months
New end date:
31 March 2027
Abstentions:
China, Russia, Pakistan
Troops deployed:
About 1,500
Why it matters for exams: UNSC mandate renewals, abstentions and peacekeeping-type missions are frequent UPSC and SSC current-affairs questions.
UPSCSSC
29 September 2026
Izz al-Din al-Beik, head of Hamas's armed wing in the northern Gaza Strip, was killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building in Gaza City early on Tuesday 29 September 2026.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the killing in a joint statement.
Hamas issued a statement confirming his death.
Al Jazeera reports he had assumed command of the Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza, succeeding Ahmed al-Ghandour.
The Israeli military says it has killed at least 20 Hamas members this month.
Person killed:
Izz al-Din al-Beik
Location:
Gaza City
Armed wing:
Qassam Brigades
Why it matters for exams: Gaza conflict developments and the people and organisations involved are recurring international current-affairs questions.
UPSCSSC
29 September 2026
The UN Security Council met in New York on the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday 29 September 2026.
UN News says clashes between Government forces and M23 rebels continue in the east despite a series of peace agreements.
The DRC and Rwanda signed the Washington Accords in December 2025, and Kinshasa and M23 signed the Doha peace framework a month earlier.
Ambassadors were likely to focus on ceasefire monitoring and rising tensions between the DRC and Rwanda.
MONUSCO's mandate comes up for renewal in December.
DRC-Rwanda agreement:
Washington Accords (December 2025)
Rebel group:
M23
UN mission up for renewal:
MONUSCO (December)
Why it matters for exams: Peace accords, rebel groups and UN missions in Africa are common international-affairs topics.
UPSCSSC
29 September 2026
UN relief chief Tom Fletcher has released funds from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) ahead of El Niño-driven drought in Africa.
South Sudan receives $6 million, where over 10 million people already need aid.
Zimbabwe receives $4 million for anticipatory action on food, health and nutrition.
Chad receives $3.6 million to help 350,000 people prepare for dry conditions.
The funds were released automatically once trigger thresholds were met.
South Sudan:
$6 million
Zimbabwe:
$4 million
Chad:
$3.6 million
Fund:
CERF
Why it matters for exams: UN funds, anticipatory humanitarian action and climate phenomena like El Niño are common in current-affairs papers.
UPSCSSC
10 September 2026
The European Central Bank's Governing Council raised all three key rates by 25 basis points on 10 September 2026, effective 16 September.
The deposit facility rate is 2.50 per cent, the main refinancing operations rate 2.65 per cent and the marginal lending facility rate 2.90 per cent.
The ECB cited the Middle East conflict and said inflation is set to remain well above target for an extended period.
Staff project headline inflation of 3.0 per cent in 2026 and euro area growth of 0.9 per cent.
The Council will take a data-dependent, meeting-by-meeting approach.
Deposit facility rate:
2.50 per cent
Main refinancing rate:
2.65 per cent
Marginal lending rate:
2.90 per cent
Effective from:
16 September 2026
Why it matters for exams: ECB rate terms and the three key policy rates are standard economy and banking questions.
UPSCSSCBank
26 September 2026
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed the General Debate of the UN General Assembly's 81st session on Saturday 26 September 2026.
He announced that Russia, Belarus and like-minded partners had adopted a statement in New York launching work on a Eurasian Charter on Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century.
He called it a new continent-wide architecture of peace and development.
He said Moscow's military operation in Ukraine would be carried through to the end.
UN News reports his speech.
Speaker:
Sergey Lavrov
Session:
81st UN General Assembly
Initiative:
Eurasian Charter on Diversity and Multipolarity
Why it matters for exams: UN General Assembly sessions and new multilateral initiatives are regular current-affairs questions.
UPSCSSC
Background
Article 18 of the UN Charter gives each member of the General Assembly one vote. Decisions on important questions require a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting; these include recommendations on international peace and security and the election of the non-permanent members of the Security Council. Decisions on other questions are by simple majority. All 193 Member States are represented, making the Assembly the only UN body with universal representation. It elects a President each year to serve a one-year term.
Votes per member:
one
Majority for important questions:
two-thirds of members present and voting
Member States represented:
193
Why it matters for exams: The one-member-one-vote rule and the two-thirds threshold are standard questions, often set against the Security Council's voting rule.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
Article 61 of the UN Charter provides that the Economic and Social Council consists of fifty-four Members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly. Eighteen members are elected each year for a term of three years, and a retiring member is eligible for immediate re-election. The Council was originally smaller: amendments enlarged it from eighteen to twenty-seven and then to fifty-four. It is the principal body for coordination, policy review and policy dialogue on economic, social and environmental issues.
Members:
54
Elected each year:
18
Term:
three years
Why it matters for exams: Council size, election by the General Assembly and the three-year rotation are stock questions on the UN's economic and social arm.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
The Statute of the International Court of Justice provides that the Court shall consist of fifteen members, no two of whom may be nationals of the same state. Members are elected for nine years and may be re-elected. They are elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council from a list of persons nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. A candidate needs an absolute majority of votes in both bodies. Any Security Council vote on judges is taken without distinction between permanent and non-permanent members, so no veto applies.
Judges:
15
Term:
nine years
Elected by:
General Assembly and Security Council, absolute majority in both
Why it matters for exams: The composition and election rules of the Court are staple questions on international judicial bodies.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
The International Court of Justice settles, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. Article 34 of the Statute provides that only states may be parties in cases before the Court. The Court can deal with a dispute only when the States concerned have accepted its jurisdiction, for example by special agreement, through a treaty clause or through declarations recognizing its jurisdiction as compulsory. Advisory opinions are generally not binding on the requesting body.
Who may be parties to cases:
only States (Article 34)
Advisory opinions requested by:
authorized UN organs and specialized agencies
Basis of jurisdiction:
consent of the States concerned
Why it matters for exams: The distinction between contentious jurisdiction and advisory jurisdiction, and the consent principle, are frequently tested.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
The Charter of the United Nations, the founding document of the Organization, was signed on 26 June 1945 in San Francisco at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. Under Article 111 its Chinese, French, Russian, English and Spanish texts are equally authentic. Arabic is one of the six official languages of the UN but is not among these five. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is annexed to the Charter and forms an integral part of it (Article 92).
Signed at:
San Francisco
Authentic texts:
Chinese, French, Russian, English, Spanish
Annexed to the Charter:
Statute of the International Court of Justice
Why it matters for exams: The founding treaty of the UN, its place of signing and its authentic languages are common general-knowledge questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction comprises a Preamble, 24 Articles and 3 Annexes. It aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use by States Parties. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is its implementing body, and the Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW has 193 Member States, and its Executive Council has 41 members.
Structure:
Preamble, 24 Articles, 3 Annexes
Implementing body:
OPCW
OPCW Member States:
193
Why it matters for exams: Treaty-body pairings in disarmament, such as the convention and its implementing organisation, are a common linking question.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
Settling disputes is the responsibility of the Dispute Settlement Body, which is the General Council in another guise and consists of all WTO members. The Dispute Settlement Body alone can establish panels of experts, accept or reject their findings, monitor implementation of rulings and authorize retaliation. A dispute begins with consultation between the governments concerned, for which up to 60 days is allowed before a panel can be requested. Panels consist of three, and possibly five, experts from different countries, and the panel's final report should normally reach the parties within six months. A panel report becomes the Dispute Settlement Body's ruling within 60 days unless there is a consensus to reject it, so the losing side cannot block adoption on its own. Under these rules appeals go to a permanent seven-member Appellate Body whose members hold four-year terms, and each appeal is heard by three of them. An appeal must rest on points of law and cannot re-examine existing evidence; it should normally take no more than 60 days and at most 90 days. The procedure is set out in the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, agreed in the Uruguay Round, which replaced a GATT procedure with no fixed timetables and rulings that were easier to block. The WTO notes, however, that the Appellate Body is currently unable to review appeals because of ongoing vacancies; the term of the last sitting Appellate Body member expired on 30 November 2020.
Dispute Settlement Body:
The General Council in another guise; consists of all WTO members
Appellate Body:
permanent seven-member body; four-year terms; three members hear each appeal; currently unable to review appeals owing to ongoing vacancies, the last sitting member's term having expired on 30 November 2020
Panel size:
three (possibly five) experts from different countries
Consultation stage:
up to 60 days
Governing agreement:
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes
Why it matters for exams: Examiners regularly ask which WTO body does what, and the negative-consensus rule that makes a ruling almost automatic is the single most tested feature of the system.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
The Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, and it established three separate bodies: the Assembly of States Parties, the Court itself and the Trust Fund for Victims. The Rome Statute grants the ICC jurisdiction over four main crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The Court comprises four separate organs, namely the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry. Its 18 judges sit in 3 divisions, Pre-Trial, Trial and Appeals, and conduct the judicial proceedings. The Court may exercise jurisdiction where genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes were committed on or after 1 July 2002 by a State Party national, or in the territory of a State Party, or in a State that has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court. A situation may also be referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Jurisdiction over the fourth crime, the crime of aggression, runs on a separate track: the definition was adopted by amending the Rome Statute at the 2010 Kampala Review Conference and the Assembly of States Parties activated the Court's jurisdiction over it as of 17 July 2018, and where there is no Security Council referral the Court may not exercise that jurisdiction over an act of aggression committed by a national or on the territory of a State Party that has not ratified or accepted those amendments. The Court is intended to complement, not to replace, national criminal systems, and prosecutes only where States are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely. It has no police force of its own and relies on cooperation from countries for arrests; the seat of the Court is in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Founding treaty:
Rome Statute
Judges:
18 judges in 3 divisions: Pre-Trial, Trial and Appeals
Organs of the Court:
Presidency, Judicial Divisions, Office of the Prosecutor, Registry
Crimes within jurisdiction:
genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crime of aggression
Seat of the Court:
The Hague, the Netherlands
Jurisdiction in time:
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on or after 1 July 2002; jurisdiction over the crime of aggression activated as of 17 July 2018
Why it matters for exams: The Court is frequently confused with the International Court of Justice, so a question can be answered only by someone who knows its founding treaty, its organs, the number of its judges and the four crimes it may try.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
Governance of WHO takes place through the World Health Assembly, which is the supreme decision-making body, and the Executive Board, which gives effect to the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly. The World Health Assembly is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and works on a health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. Its main functions are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The Executive Board is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms. The annual Board meeting is held in January/February, when the members agree upon the agenda for the World Health Assembly and the resolutions to be considered by it. The Director-General is appointed by the Health Assembly on the nomination of the Executive Board, and is the chief technical and administrative officer of the Organization. The Constitution of WHO was adopted by the International Health Conference held in New York 1946 and entered into force on 7 April 1948. Regional Committees meet separately for Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific.
Governing bodies:
World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body, and the Executive Board
Executive Board:
34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms
Board meeting:
the annual Board meeting is held in January/February
Constitution adopted by:
International Health Conference held in New York 1946
Constitution entered into force:
7 April 1948
Regional Committees:
Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia, the Western Pacific
Why it matters for exams: The size and term of the Executive Board, and the fact that it nominates while the Health Assembly appoints the Director-General, are standard one-mark facts that are easy to confuse with the membership figures of other United Nations bodies.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
The Paris Agreement was reached by world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015. It is a legally binding international treaty and it entered into force on 4 November 2016. It has 195 Parties in all, made up of 194 States and the European Union. Its long-term goals are to hold the global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C, and to provide financing to developing countries to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts. The Agreement works on a cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action: every five years each country is expected to submit an updated national climate action plan, known as a Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC. In its NDC a country communicates the actions it will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to build resilience to adapt to rising temperatures. The first global stocktake of efforts under the Agreement concluded at COP28 with a decision on how to accelerate action across mitigation, adaptation and finance. The operational details for putting the Agreement into practice, colloquially called the Paris Rulebook, were agreed at COP24 in Katowice, Poland, and finalized at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Adopted at:
UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015
Entered into force:
4 November 2016
Parties:
195 Parties: 194 States and the European Union
Temperature goal:
well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C
Review cycle:
an updated Nationally Determined Contribution every five years
Paris Rulebook:
agreed at COP24 in Katowice, Poland; finalized at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland
Why it matters for exams: The five-year review cycle, the two temperature figures and the distinction between the conference that adopted the Agreement and the date it entered into force are asked in one form or another in almost every general studies paper that covers climate policy.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
OPEC was established at the Baghdad Conference held from 10 to 14 September 1960.
The five founding members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The OPEC Secretariat was first based in Geneva, Switzerland.
In April 1965 the OPEC Conference decided to move the headquarters to Vienna, Austria.
Its purpose is to unify and co-ordinate the petroleum policies of its member countries.
Founded at:
Baghdad Conference, 1960
Founding members:
5
Headquarters:
Vienna, Austria
Why it matters for exams: OPEC's founding members, founding city and headquarters are classic general-knowledge questions, and OPEC+ decisions keep it in the news.
UPSCSSCBank
Background
ASEAN was founded on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, through the ASEAN Declaration, also called the Bangkok Declaration.
The founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Brunei Darussalam joined in 1984, Viet Nam in 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.
Timor-Leste joined on 26 October 2025, making eleven member states.
The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Founded:
8 August 1967, Bangkok
Member states:
11
Secretariat:
Jakarta, Indonesia
Why it matters for exams: ASEAN's founding date, founding members, membership and headquarters are frequently asked in general-knowledge papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC