8 October 2026
The Food and Agriculture Organization released its Food Price Index for September 2026 on 2 October 2026.
The index averaged 136.0 points, up 2.0 points or 1.5 per cent from the revised August level.
It stood 7.4 points, or 5.8 per cent, above its level a year earlier and 24.3 points, or 15.1 per cent, below its March 2022 peak.
The cereal price index rose 5.1 per cent to 122.8 points and the vegetable oil index rose 0.9 per cent to 198.6 points.
The sugar index rose 6.1 per cent to 114.0 points, its third straight monthly rise and its highest level since April 2025.
The meat index fell 1.1 per cent to 127.9 points and the dairy index slipped 0.1 per cent to 119.1 points.
Index value:
136.0 points
Change from August:
up 1.5%
Change from a year earlier:
up 5.8%
Sugar index:
114.0 points, up 6.1%
Released:
2 October 2026
Why it matters for exams: The FAO Food Price Index and its five sub-indices are a recurring economy and index question.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
FFPI FAO Food Price Index — A monthly measure of the change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization — The UN agency for food and agriculture, headquartered in Rome.
8 October 2026
The World Meteorological Organization published the outlook of the Fifteenth South-West Indian Ocean Climate Outlook Forum on 1 October 2026.
The forum was hosted by the Seychelles Meteorological Agency from 15 to 17 September and covers October to December 2026 and January to March 2027.
Participating Members were Comoros, La Reunion, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The drivers considered were a strengthening El Nino, an Indian Ocean Dipole moving from neutral towards positive, and a Subtropical Indian Ocean Dipole moving from positive towards neutral.
South Africa, southern and central Mozambique, Malawi and south-western Madagascar are more likely to be drier, with higher drought and food-security risk.
Tanzania, northern Malawi, Seychelles and parts of the Mascarene Islands are more likely to be wetter, with flood and landslide risk.
Temperatures are expected to be above normal across the region, while tropical cyclone activity is expected to be below normal basin-wide with tracks shifting south.
Forum:
SWIOCOF15
Host:
Seychelles Meteorological Agency, 15-17 September
Participating Members:
9
Cyclone outlook:
below-normal activity basin-wide
Why it matters for exams: El Nino, the Indian Ocean Dipole and WMO regional climate outlook forums are standard geography and environment topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
El Nino El Nino — The warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, marked by unusually warm water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.
IOD Indian Ocean Dipole — The difference in sea surface temperature between the western and eastern tropical Indian Ocean.
WMO World Meteorological Organization — The UN agency for weather, climate and water, based in Geneva.
8 October 2026
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who also handles economic security, is meeting Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing for two-day talks on 8 and 9 October 2026.
The European Commission announced the dates on 18 September after a video call of more than an hour between the two ministers.
The European Union's trade deficit with China exceeds one billion euros, about 1.12 billion US dollars, every day.
The agenda covers the management of Chinese exports to Europe, European firms' access to the Chinese market, and China's export controls on rare earths and other critical minerals.
Brussels wants the round to produce the first concrete outcomes under the EU-China Trade and Investment Consultations framework.
A majority of EU lawmakers backed a non-binding resolution on a tougher trade stance towards Beijing the day before the talks, and China's commerce ministry has warned of a resolute response to new EU restrictions.
EU negotiator:
Maros Sefcovic, European Trade Commissioner
Chinese negotiator:
Wang Wentao, Commerce Minister
Dates:
8-9 October 2026, Beijing
EU trade deficit with China:
more than €1 billion a day
Why it matters for exams: EU-China trade friction, rare earth export controls and critical minerals are live economy and international relations topics.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Rare earths Rare earth elements — A group of seventeen metals used in magnets, electronics and defence equipment.
Trade deficit Trade deficit — The amount by which a country's imports exceed its exports.
8 October 2026
Israel's parliamentary election is set for 27 October 2026, after the Knesset voted to dissolve itself in May 2026.
The military draft of ultra-Orthodox seminary students has become one of the sharpest divides in the campaign, with large protests on both sides.
Israel's Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that there was no legal basis for the exemption of seminary students from military service, and no law has since been passed to restore it.
Degel HaTorah is one of two factions in the United Torah Judaism alliance, which won seven seats in the 2022 election.
United Torah Judaism ministers resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in 2025, though the bloc has at times supported the coalition since.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot are among those challenging Netanyahu, and Yair Golan leads the Democrats.
About a third of Israel's roughly 1.45 million Haredim belong to the Lithuanian community.
Election date:
27 October 2026
Parliament:
Knesset, dissolved May 2026
United Torah Judaism seats in 2022:
7
Haredi population:
about 1.45 million
Why it matters for exams: National elections outside India, the Knesset and coalition politics are regular international affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Knesset Knesset — Israel's single-chamber parliament of 120 members, elected by proportional representation.
Haredim Haredi Jews — Ultra-Orthodox Jews, many of whom study full time in religious seminaries.
Background
The Asian Development Bank describes itself as a leading multilateral development bank supporting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth across Asia and the Pacific. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members - 50 from the region. Its own history records that a resolution passed at the first Ministerial Conference on Asian Economic Cooperation held by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East in 1963 set that vision on the way to becoming reality, and that the Philippines capital of Manila was chosen to host the new institution, which opened on 19 December 1966, with 31 members. From 31 members at its establishment in 1966, ADB has grown to encompass 69 members, of which 50 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside, and its membership tables are set out as Regional members and Nonregional members. The Bank works under the ADB Charter and ADB By-Laws. A major landmark was the establishment in 1974 of the Asian Development Fund to provide low-interest loans to ADB's poorest members. ADB's headquarters is in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila; the move there took place after ADB had been located on Roxas Boulevard for 19 years.
Founded:
1966
Opened:
19 December 1966
Members at opening:
31
Members now:
69 - 50 regional, 19 nonregional
Headquarters:
Mandaluyong, Metro Manila
Concessional window:
Asian Development Fund, established 1974
Why it matters for exams: The Asian Development Bank's founding year, opening date, headquarters and the split of its membership between regional and nonregional members are standard objective questions on multilateral development banks.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Multilateral development bank — A bank owned by several governments that lends for development rather than for profit.
Asian Development Fund — The Bank's window for low-interest loans to its poorest members.
Nonregional member — An ADB member from outside Asia and the Pacific.
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 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 continues freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation towards that end, and Article III requires scientific observations and results from Antarctica to be exchanged and made freely available.
Seven of the signatories, namely Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, had territorial claims that were sometimes overlapping, and other countries do not recognise any claims.
Article IV preserves the status quo: no new claim, and no enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica may be asserted while the Treaty is in force.
Under Article VII all areas of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas, are open at all times to inspection.
Signed:
1 December 1959, Washington
Original signatories:
12
Signatories with territorial claims:
7
Entry into force:
1961
Why it matters for exams: The Antarctic Treaty is the standard example of a demilitarised, science-only regime, and examiners ask for its place of signature, the number of original signatories and the effect of Article IV on territorial claims.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
International Geophysical Year A coordinated worldwide programme of earth science observations — The 1957-58 programme brought scientists from many countries to Antarctica and led directly to the Treaty negotiations.
Article IV The status quo provision of the Antarctic Treaty — It freezes territorial claims: nothing done while the Treaty is in force supports or denies a claim, and no new claim may be made.
Background
The African Union is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African continent.
It was officially launched in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity, which existed from 1963 to 1999.
In May 1963, 32 Heads of independent African States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to sign the Charter creating the Organisation of African Unity, Africa's first post-independence continental institution.
The main objectives of the Organisation of African Unity were to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid, to promote unity and solidarity among African States, to coordinate cooperation for development, and to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states.
On 9 September 1999 the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity issued the Sirte Declaration calling for the establishment of an African Union.
The aims of the Union are laid out in the Constitutive Act of the African Union and in the Protocol on Amendments to that Act.
Agenda 2063 is the Union's strategic framework for Africa's long term socio-economic and integrative transformation.
The African Union headquarters is at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Member states:
55
Officially launched:
July 2002, Durban, South Africa
Predecessor:
Organisation of African Unity, 1963-1999
Headquarters:
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Why it matters for exams: Membership figures, the city of launch, the predecessor body and the headquarters of the African Union are standard objective questions on regional groupings.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Sirte Declaration The declaration of the Organisation of African Unity that called for an African Union — Issued by the OAU Heads of State and Government on 9 September 1999, it set in motion the creation of the African Union.
Agenda 2063 The African Union's long term development framework — It is the Union's strategic framework for Africa's socio-economic transformation and continental integration.
Background
To be included on the World Heritage List, a site must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.
Criterion (i) asks a site to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.
Criterion (iii) covers sites that bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization.
Criterion (vi) covers sites directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas or with beliefs, or with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
Criterion (vii) covers superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.
Criterion (x) covers the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value.
Until the end of 2004 sites were selected on the basis of six cultural and four natural criteria; the revised Operational Guidelines brought them together as a single set of ten.
The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations.
Selection criteria:
10
Criteria a site must meet:
At least one
Cultural criteria before the merger:
6
Natural criteria before the merger:
4
Why it matters for exams: Questions on World Heritage sites often turn on how many criteria exist, how many a site must satisfy, and which criterion a given kind of site falls under.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Outstanding universal value The threshold a property must cross to be inscribed — A nominated site must be of outstanding universal value and satisfy at least one of the ten criteria.
Operational Guidelines The rules that govern how the World Heritage Convention is applied — The revised Guidelines replaced the separate cultural and natural lists with one set of ten criteria.
Background
NATO was created by 12 countries from Europe and North America on 4 April 1949.
The Foreign Ministers of those twelve signed the North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, at the Departmental Auditorium in Washington, D.C.
The founding member countries were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Since then 20 more countries have joined through 10 rounds of enlargement, and at present NATO has 32 member countries.
Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty sets out how countries can join, and states that membership is open to any European State in a position to further the principles of the Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any decision to invite a country to join is taken by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's principal political decision-making body, on the basis of consensus among all Allies.
Greece and Turkiye were the first countries to accede after the founding twelve, three years after the signing of the Washington Treaty.
When Iceland signed the Treaty it did not have, and still does not have, armed forces, though it keeps a Coast Guard, national police forces and an air defence system.
Founding member countries:
12
Treaty signed:
4 April 1949, Washington, D.C.
Rounds of enlargement:
10
Member countries at present:
32
Accession provision:
Article 10
Why it matters for exams: Papers ask how many countries founded NATO, which Article governs accession and which body decides on an invitation, and the Article 10 wording explains why membership is limited to European States.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Article 10 The accession provision of the North Atlantic Treaty — It opens membership to any European State able to further the Treaty's principles and contribute to North Atlantic security.
North Atlantic Council NATO's principal political decision-making body — It decides by consensus among all Allies, including on any invitation to a country to join.
Background
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997.
The Organisation has 193 Member States, and all States Parties to the Convention are automatically members of the Organisation, each with one vote.
The Conference of the States Parties is the principal and plenary organ. It meets annually for one week in The Hague, elects the members of the Executive Council and appoints the Director-General.
A Review Conference is held once every five years so that States Parties can review the operation of the Convention.
The Executive Council consists of 41 Member States elected by the Conference of the States Parties and rotating every two years, and it supervises the activities of the Technical Secretariat.
The Technical Secretariat is made up of about 500 staff members recruited from over 80 Member States and is headed by the Director-General.
The Organisation records that all of the chemical weapons stockpiles declared by possessor States have been verifiably destroyed.
The 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to the Organisation on 10 December 2013 for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.
Convention entered into force:
29 April 1997
Member States:
193
Executive Council members:
41
Technical Secretariat staff:
about 500
Nobel Peace Prize:
2013
Why it matters for exams: Disarmament questions regularly ask which body implements the Chemical Weapons Convention, how large its Executive Council is and which organ appoints its Director-General.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Conference of the States Parties The principal and plenary organ of the OPCW — It meets annually for one week in The Hague, elects the Executive Council and appoints the Director-General.
Technical Secretariat The permanent staff of the OPCW, including its Inspectorate — About 500 staff from over 80 Member States, headed by the Director-General and supervised by the Executive Council.
Background
The World Trade Organization describes dispute settlement as the central pillar of the multilateral trading system and the organisation's unique contribution to the stability of the global economy.
The agreement that governs it is the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.
First rulings are made by a panel and endorsed or rejected by the WTO's full membership, and appeals based on points of law are possible.
If a case runs its full course to a first ruling it should not normally take more than about one year, or 15 months if the case is appealed.
The target timetable allows 60 days for consultations and mediation, 45 days for the panel to be set up and panellists appointed, six months for the final panel report to the parties, three weeks for that report to reach the members, and 60 days for the Dispute Settlement Body to adopt it.
A procedure for settling disputes existed under the old GATT, but it had no fixed timetables and rulings were easier to block.
Under the Uruguay Round agreement a ruling is automatically adopted unless there is a consensus to reject it, so a country wanting to block a ruling must persuade every other member, including its adversary in the case.
The first stage is consultations between the governments concerned, and consultation and mediation remain possible at every later stage.
Consultations and mediation:
60 days
Panel set up and panellists appointed:
45 days
Final panel report to parties:
6 months
Total without appeal:
1 year
Total with appeal:
1 year 3 months
Why it matters for exams: Trade questions ask which agreement governs WTO dispute settlement, how long a case should take, and what changed from the GATT system about blocking a ruling.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Dispute Settlement Body The WTO membership acting to adopt or reject panel and appeal reports — It adopts a report automatically unless the members reach a consensus to reject it.
Negative consensus Adoption unless everyone agrees to reject — This reversal of the GATT rule is what stops a single losing country from blocking a ruling.