4 October 2026
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched a mass march on 4 October 2026 after talks with the government failed over the weekend.
It is led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and starts at Lakki Marwat.
The route is due to end at Khairabad, about 80 km west of Islamabad, on 8 October.
The marchers demand the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been in prison since August 2023.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said the government will act against anyone who defies court orders against occupying public roads.
March led by:
Sohail Afridi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister
Start and end:
Lakki Marwat to Khairabad
Distance of Khairabad from Islamabad:
80 km west
Why it matters for exams: Shows how a province's elected government and the opposition clash with the federal government in a neighbouring country.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PTI Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf — The party founded by Imran Khan; it governs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of north-west Pakistan — Pakistan's north-western province, whose capital is Peshawar.
5 October 2026
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel.
The citation reads "for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics".
Hegemann and Nagel discovered channelrhodopsin, an algal protein, in the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas.
Deisseroth introduced the gene for channelrhodopsin into rat nerve cells and triggered a nerve signal with blue light; he published this in 2005.
Two years later he made the light-controlled switch work in the brains of living mice.
Deisseroth is at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, USA; Hegemann at Humboldt University of Berlin and Nagel at the University of Würzburg, both in Germany.
Announced:
5 October 2026
Laureates:
Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel
Prize share:
1/3 each
Discovery:
Channelrhodopsin and optogenetics
Why it matters for exams: Nobel laureates, their fields and citations are a standing question in every current-affairs paper.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Optogenetics Light-controlled gene-based neuroscience method — A method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain.
Channelrhodopsin Light-gated algal ion channel protein — An algal protein that opens a channel when lit by blue light, letting charged ions into the cell.
2 October 2026
WHO released its latest Global Health Estimates on 2 October 2026, covering 2000 to 2023.
Global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, close to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019.
Healthy life expectancy reached 62.8 years in 2023, still 0.4 years below its 2019 level.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for 74% of deaths in 2023, compared with 58% in 2000.
Ischaemic heart disease alone caused approximately 9.5 million deaths in 2023.
Dementia became the fifth leading cause of death globally in 2023, compared with 19th in 2000.
Life expectancy, 2023:
73.3 years
Healthy life expectancy, 2023:
62.8 years
NCD share of deaths, 2023:
74%
Ischaemic heart disease deaths, 2023:
approximately 9.5 million
Why it matters for exams: WHO health indicators such as life expectancy and the NCD share of deaths are favourite statistics in health and report-based questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NCDs Noncommunicable diseases — Diseases such as diabetes, dementia and heart disease that do not pass from person to person.
DALY Disability-adjusted life year — A measure of years of healthy life lost through premature death and disability.
5 October 2026
WHO is joining Pacific leaders, governments and partners at Pre-COP31 in Fiji from 5 to 8 October 2026.
The 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UNFCCC will be held next month in Antalya, Türkiye.
Health is one of the 10 priority themes of the COP31 Action Agenda, "Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems".
A dedicated Health Day will take place on 9 November, the first day of COP31.
A review of 76 hospitals in 14 Pacific island countries found 62% of health facilities are within 500 metres of the sea or a river.
Pre-COP31:
Fiji, 5 to 8 October 2026
COP31 venue:
Antalya, Türkiye
Health Day:
9 November, first day of COP31
Facilities within 500 m of sea or river:
62% (76 hospitals, 14 Pacific island countries)
Why it matters for exams: Climate conferences, their host cities and their themes are recurring questions in environment and international-affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — The UN treaty under which the annual COP climate conferences are held.
COP Conference of the Parties — The UNFCCC's decision-making body, in which member countries meet each year.
5 October 2026
An article published on 5 October 2026 in BMJ Public Health uses data from 28 Asia-Pacific countries on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) action plans.
Of the 28 countries, 27 had endorsed at least one multisectoral AMR action plan.
Second-generation plans were twice as likely to be costed as first plans (67% versus 33%).
Nearly half (49%) of the 27 countries with AMR plans are not costed at all; 44% of plans are fully costed and another 7% partially costed.
Only eight countries reported that AMR activities are funded entirely from domestic sources.
The findings are the first regional summary of progress against the 2024 UN General Assembly Political Declaration on AMR.
Countries with data:
28 Asia-Pacific countries
Countries with at least one AMR plan:
27
Plans not costed at all:
49%
Costed: second vs first plans:
67% versus 33%
Why it matters for exams: Antimicrobial resistance is a leading global health topic, and UN declarations and WHO findings on it feature in health and international-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
AMR Antimicrobial resistance — When bacteria and other organisms evolve to resist the medicines used to treat infections.
1 October 2026
Four Crew-13 members launched at 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, 1 October 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The crew is NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
Dragon's flight is expected to take approximately 7 hours 50 minutes, with autonomous docking planned for approximately 7 p.m., which NASA says would make it the fastest launch-to-docking by a U.S. spacecraft in the history of the ISS.
They are due to join the Expedition 75 crew.
After a brief handover, Crew-12 will return to Earth.
Research includes human stem cell-derived tissues for conditions such as heart disease and Parkinson's.
Launch:
11:10 a.m. EDT, 1 October 2026
Launch site:
Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral
Flight time:
approximately 7 hours 50 minutes
Joins:
Expedition 75
Why it matters for exams: Crewed missions to the ISS and the agencies that share it are standard science-and-technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CSA Canadian Space Agency — Canada's national space agency, whose astronaut Joshua Kutryk is on Crew-13.
Background
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve countries whose scientists had been active in and around Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. It entered into force in 1961 and has since been acceded to by many other nations. Article I provides that Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. Article II provides that freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end shall continue, and Article III that scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available. Seven of the signatories - Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom - had territorial claims, sometimes overlapping, and other countries do not recognize any claims. Article IV preserves the status quo: no acts or activities taking place while the treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica, and no new claim or enlargement of an existing claim shall be asserted while the treaty is in force. Under Article VII all areas of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas, shall be open at all times to inspection.
Signed at:
Washington
Date of signature:
1 December 1959
Original signatories:
twelve countries
Entered into force:
1961
Peaceful purposes only:
Article I
Signatories with territorial claims:
seven countries
Why it matters for exams: The treaty is the standard example of a demilitarised, science-only regime, and the number of original signatories and the claim-freezing article are frequently asked.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
IGY International Geophysical Year — A worldwide programme of earth-science research during which scientists from twelve countries worked in and around Antarctica.
Territorial sovereignty — A state's legal claim to rule a defined piece of territory.
Background
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships, while the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships. SOLAS, 1974 was adopted on 1 November 1974 and entered into force on 25 May 1980. The MARPOL Convention was adopted on 2 November 1973, with a 1978 Protocol and a 1997 Protocol that added a new Annex VI. MARPOL's Annexes I and II entered into force on 2 October 1983. Annex I carries the Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil, and Annex II the Regulations for the Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk.
SOLAS adoption:
1 November 1974
SOLAS entry into force:
25 May 1980
MARPOL adoption:
1973 (Convention), 1978 (1978 Protocol), 1997 (Protocol - Annex VI)
MARPOL entry into force:
2 October 1983 (Annexes I and II)
Why it matters for exams: Candidates are regularly asked to match the maritime convention to its subject, and to separate the dates of adoption from the dates of entry into force.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
IMO International Maritime Organization — The United Nations specialized agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and for preventing pollution by ships.
SOLAS International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea — The IMO convention dealing with the safety of merchant ships and the people on board.
MARPOL International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships — The IMO convention dealing with pollution of the sea and the air by ships, organised in annexes.
Background
There are three kinds of plate tectonic boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries. At a divergent boundary two plates move away from each other; molten rock rises from the mantle and solidifies to create new oceanic crust. At a convergent boundary two plates come together, and the edges may buckle up into mountain ranges or one plate may bend down into a deep seafloor trench. At a transform boundary two plates slide past each other. The mid-ocean ridge is the most extensive chain of mountains on Earth, stretching nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles), with more than 90 percent of the mountain range lying in the deep ocean. Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the plates spread apart.
Kinds of plate tectonic boundary:
Three: divergent, convergent, and transform
Length of the mid-ocean ridge:
nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles)
Share of the range in the deep ocean:
more than 90 percent
Why it matters for exams: Boundary types and the length of the mid-ocean ridge system are standard physical geography questions, and the ridge explains where new ocean floor is made.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Divergent boundary — A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other and new crust forms.
Convergent boundary — A plate boundary where two plates come together, forming mountains or a deep trench.
Transform boundary — A plate boundary where two plates slide past each other.
Background
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) is an ad hoc international institution.
It is responsible for overseeing implementation of the civilian aspects of the Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The agreement was negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, and signed in Paris on 14 December 1995.
The High Representative works with Bosnia's people and institutions and the international community so the country evolves into a peaceful and viable democracy.
The Peace Implementation Council Steering Board is the international body guiding the peace process.
Agreement negotiated at:
Dayton, Ohio
Agreement signed at:
Paris, 14 December 1995
OHR's nature:
Ad hoc international institution
Why it matters for exams: Explains the international oversight behind Bosnia's politics, a frequent topic in world affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
OHR Office of the High Representative — The international body overseeing the civilian side of Bosnia's peace agreement.
Ad hoc Created for a specific purpose — Set up for one particular task rather than as a permanent body.
Background
The Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 21 May 1997 (resolution 51/229).
It entered into force on 17 August 2014.
Article 5 requires states to use a shared watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner.
Article 7 requires states to take all appropriate measures to prevent significant harm to other watercourse states.
States planning measures with significant adverse effects must give other affected states timely notice.
The Convention has 37 articles.
Adopted:
21 May 1997, resolution 51/229
Entered into force:
17 August 2014
Articles:
37
Why it matters for exams: Gives the legal basis for river-sharing disputes such as the Nile, which come up in international relations and geography papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Equitable and reasonable utilization Article 5 principle — States must use a shared river in a fair way that weighs all relevant factors.
No-harm rule Obligation not to cause significant harm — States must take all appropriate measures to prevent significant harm to other watercourse states.