12 October 2026
The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel goes to Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced it on 12 October 2026. Their research shows how to keep economies stable and avoid damaging swings in inflation, growth and employment. The prize committee says the work generated a paradigm shift in stabilisation policy. The prize is 12 million Swedish kronor, shared.
Laureates:
Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford
Prize amount:
12 million Swedish kronor
Announced by:
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Why it matters for exams: Nobel laureates and the fields they are honoured for are a standing question in UPSC, Kerala PSC and bank exams.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
Sveriges Riksbank Prize Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel — The full name of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, as used in the 2026 announcement.
12 October 2026
President Asif Ali Zardari imposed emergency and governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Sunday 11 October 2026, on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Arab News reports that Articles 232 and 234 of the constitution were invoked. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi takes charge of the provincial government with an 11-member advisory board. The Prime Minister's office cited the provincial government's deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism. The interior ministry authorised army assistance to the civilian administration under Article 245. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which governs KP, condemned the move.
Date imposed:
11 October 2026
Province:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Governor:
Faisal Karim Kundi
Advisory board:
11 members
Why it matters for exams: Emergency provisions and federal-provincial relations in a neighbouring country are tested in UPSC world-affairs and Kerala PSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
12 October 2026
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued a Sudan food insecurity and malnutrition alert on 12 October 2026. An El Nino-induced drought affects roughly half of the country and adds to conflict and displacement. The IPC warns of a growing famine risk across parts of Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan. In Nyala, the share of children admitted for severe acute malnutrition among those using nutrition services rose from about 5% to 11% between January and August. Two displacement camps in South Darfur recorded global acute malnutrition above famine thresholds. The alert calls for safe humanitarian access in frontline areas, especially North and West Kordofan.
Alert issued:
12 October 2026
Drought coverage:
roughly half of Sudan
Nyala severe acute malnutrition admissions:
about 5% to 11%
Why it matters for exams: Hunger reports, famine classifications and the agencies behind them are regular world-affairs and current-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IPC Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — A multi-stakeholder global initiative on food security.
12 October 2026
The World Health Organization published on 12 October 2026 the second edition of 'Funding a tuberculosis-free future: an investment case for screening and preventive treatment'. The report examines the costs and benefits of tuberculosis screening together with TB preventive treatment (TPT). It models four countries: Brazil, Georgia, Kenya and South Africa. It finds returns of up to US$ 54 for each dollar invested.
Return:
up to US$ 54 for each dollar invested
Countries modelled:
Brazil, Georgia, Kenya and South Africa
Edition:
Second edition
Why it matters for exams: WHO publications on disease control and their headline figures are common in health and current-affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
TPT TB preventive treatment — Treatment given to prevent tuberculosis disease.
9 October 2026
WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Record published 'Elimination of human onchocerciasis: progress report, 2025–2026' on 9 October 2026. In 2025, 255.7 million people required preventive chemotherapy and 180.3 million were treated, a global coverage of 70.5%. This is described as the highest number of people ever treated for onchocerciasis in a single year. Ivermectin mass drug administration has stopped in 310 implementation units. About 38 million people no longer need preventive chemotherapy, mostly in Nigeria (28.0 million), Uganda, Ethiopia and Mali. Angola, Gabon and Sudan did not implement mass drug administration in 2025.
People treated in 2025:
180.3 million
Global coverage:
70.5%
People requiring preventive chemotherapy:
255.7 million
Implementation units where ivermectin MDA stopped:
310
Why it matters for exams: Neglected tropical disease elimination and WHO data are frequent in health and current-affairs questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
MDA Mass drug administration — Giving a medicine to a whole at-risk community, here ivermectin.
11 October 2026
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday 11 October 2026 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine supports an energy ceasefire but that such steps must be real and not just announced on social media; he said at least six Ukrainian energy facilities were hit after the announcement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected any pause in fighting. The announcement came two days after Trump temporarily eased US sanctions on Russian diesel. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said copying that diesel deal was out of the question for Europe, and French President Emmanuel Macron said there was no factual reason to change the position.
Announced:
Donald Trump, 11 October 2026
Russian response:
Sergey Lavrov rejected any pause
Energy facilities hit after announcement:
at least six
Why it matters for exams: The Russia-Ukraine war and the sanctions and diplomacy around it are core world-affairs topics for UPSC and Kerala PSC.
Kerala PSCUPSC
7 October 2026
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Henri Kagan of the University of Paris-Sud in Orsay, France, and Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced it in Stockholm on 7 October 2026. The prize recognises their solving of a puzzle about how one mirror-image form of a molecule can come to dominate. Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said they solved a century-old mystery of how homochirality can emerge spontaneously. The prize of 12 million Swedish kronor is shared.
Laureates:
Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai
Prize amount:
12 million Swedish kronor
Announced:
7 October 2026
Why it matters for exams: Each Nobel laureate and the discovery honoured is a standard question in science and current-affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Homochirality Dominance of one mirror-image form of a molecule — The puzzle of how one handed form can emerge spontaneously.
9 October 2026
On 9 October 2026 the World Health Organization published 'Surveillance, case investigation and contact tracing in filovirus disease outbreaks', a 51-page normative guidance. It covers Ebola disease, caused by four viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Bundibugyo and Taï Forest), and Marburg virus disease. It updates WHO's 2015 guideline on contact tracing for Ebola virus disease and revises the case definitions using recent outbreak evidence. It describes five functions across the surveillance cycle, from routine surveillance and early warning to outbreak investigation and contact tracing, epidemiological analysis and community engagement. The guidance states that it does not replace national protocols.
Published:
9 October 2026
Length:
51 pages
Updates:
2015 guideline on contact tracing for Ebola virus disease
Why it matters for exams: Outbreak response guidance and the viruses behind Ebola disease are standard health questions in competitive exams.
Kerala PSCUPSC
13 October 2026
The Council of the European Union on 12 October 2026 adopted a decision establishing the European Union Support Mission in Lebanon, known as EUSM Lebanon.
The mission is set up under the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy and is given an initial mandate of three years.
Its purpose is to strengthen Lebanese defence and security institutions.
The establishing act is Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/2296.
A separate Council decision will launch the mission once operational planning is complete.
The decision was taken at the Foreign Affairs Council, chaired by High Representative Kaja Kallas.
Mission:
EUSM Lebanon
Established on:
12 October 2026
Initial mandate:
three years
Legal act:
Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/2296
Why it matters for exams: A new named CSDP mission, with its legal basis and mandate length, is the kind of fact asked about EU external action.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CSDP Common Security and Defence Policy — The part of EU foreign policy under which the Union runs civilian and military missions abroad.
13 October 2026
The Council of the European Union updated the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes on 9 October 2026.
Panama and Viet Nam were removed from the list, and no jurisdiction was added.
Both were moved to Annex II, the state of play document: Panama pending a new review by the OECD Global Forum, and Viet Nam until its review is carried out.
Belize was removed from Annex II.
Eight jurisdictions remain on the list: American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Russia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.
The list, often called the EU blacklist, is reviewed twice a year and covers jurisdictions that have not met EU standards on tax transparency, fair taxation and anti-base-erosion measures.
Updated on:
9 October 2026
Removed:
Panama and Viet Nam
Jurisdictions remaining on the list:
8
Why it matters for exams: The EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions is a standard question on international tax cooperation, and the membership changes each review.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Annex II — The EU's state of play list of jurisdictions that have given commitments on tax reform and are being monitored.
OECD Global Forum Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes — The body that reviews whether jurisdictions exchange tax information to agreed standards.
13 October 2026
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2026 to Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University.
The citation reads “for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”.
The Academy said the two built macroeconomic models on a microeconomic foundation instead of on statistical links between macroeconomic variables such as inflation, production and consumption.
A central component of these models is that households and businesses are forward looking when they decide on savings or on product prices.
John Hassler, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said the models are now used by central banks and governments around the world.
The prize amount is 12 million Swedish kronor, to be shared equally between the laureates.
Hall was born in 1943 in Palo Alto and Woodford in 1955 in Chicopee; both took their doctorates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Citation:
for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation
Prize amount:
12 million Swedish kronor
Institutions:
Stanford University and Columbia University
Why it matters for exams: The economics prize is the last of the year's Nobel announcements, and its citation, laureates and awarding body are standard one-mark questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
13 October 2026
The World Health Organization launched a five-year strategy, covering 2026 to 2030, for its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
The goal is that by 2030 every country can detect and understand an emerging health threat within a day of its appearance, so that outbreaks are contained before they become epidemics or spread internationally.
The strategy was launched at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany. The Hub was created in 2021 with foundational support from the German Government.
WHO says the Hub has worked with 160 WHO Member States and 190 partner organizations.
Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources has over 4,000 experts and is used by more than 125 Member States and 30 regional and international organizations, while the Collaboratory connects more than 2,000 modelling and data science experts.
Five priority initiatives are named: Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources, the International Pathogen Surveillance Network, the Collaboratory, the Collaborative Surveillance Initiative and the new Digital Enablers for Public Health Intelligence Initiative.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Hub “has become an integral part of the global health security system”.
Detection goal:
within 24 hours, by 2030
Hub created:
2021, with foundational support from the German Government
Reach:
160 Member States and 190 partner organizations
Why it matters for exams: Early-warning machinery is a standing topic in health governance questions, and the Hub's Berlin launch, 2021 founding and 24-hour target are crisp factual hooks.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EIOS Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources — A WHO system that scans publicly available information for signals of possible outbreaks.