20 October 2026
The World Health Organization published a report titled State of inequality: noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors.
The report runs to 185 pages and carries the number 9789240125018.
It is described as the first comprehensive global assessment of within-country inequalities in noncommunicable diseases.
It analyses 35 indicators drawn from nine multicountry data sources, disaggregated by up to eight dimensions of inequality, and covers four noncommunicable diseases and five risk factors.
It reports substantial inequalities in disease prevalence, in exposure to risk factors and in access to prevention and treatment services, with disadvantaged populations frequently experiencing poorer outcomes.
Its examples include lower cancer screening coverage, differences in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, and greater exposure to household air pollution.
It also identifies significant gaps in comparable, disaggregated data.
Pages:
185
Indicators analysed:
35 from nine data sources
Scope:
four diseases and five risk factors
Why it matters for exams: Report titles, the issuing body and the scope figures are the usual asking points for a global health report.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NCD Noncommunicable disease — A disease that is not passed from person to person, such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease.
20 October 2026
A study titled Spatially refined satellite gravimetry captures human signatures in global terrestrial water storage trends was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The lead author is Mary Michael O'Neill, and Matthew Rodell is among the authors.
The study used data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and its follow-on mission over the period April 2002 to November 2025.
It identified 40 regions where the change in water storage is linked to human activity.
In four continental regions a human-related variable outperformed every climate variable in explaining the trend.
The analysis gives spatial detail five to 10 times finer than previous analyses.
Of the decline recorded in northern India, 15 per cent was attributed to retreating Himalayan glaciers.
Study period:
April 2002 to November 2025
Human-linked regions:
40
Spatial detail gain:
five to 10 times
Why it matters for exams: The mission names and the study period are the facts a question on satellite gravimetry will use.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GRACE Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment — A pair of satellites that measure changes in the Earth's gravity field to track movements of water and ice.
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — A peer-reviewed scientific journal.
20 October 2026
The Expedition 75 crew aboard the International Space Station began the week preparing for two spacewalks.
On 29 October, flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency will install a roll-out solar array on the port side of the truss; it will be Menon's fourth excursion and Kutryk's first.
On 5 November the pair will install the station's eighth and final roll-out solar array on the starboard side of the truss.
Menon cleaned spacesuit cooling loops in the Quest airlock, and Kutryk filled the suit tanks and cooling garments with water.
Flight engineer Luke Delaney worked on analysing crew biological samples in space using compact tools rather than returning them to Earth.
Flight engineer Jessica Watkins used the BioFabrication Facility in the Columbus module to print blood vessels from the cells of patients with a rare genetic disorder that causes rapid aging.
Station commander Pyotr Dubrov studied plasma crystals, and flight engineer Anna Kikina documented hardware locations in the Zarya module.
Expedition:
75
Spacewalk dates:
29 October and 5 November
Final array:
the eighth roll-out solar array
Why it matters for exams: The expedition number, the spacewalk dates and the count of roll-out solar arrays are all askable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Truss Integrated Truss Structure — The backbone of the International Space Station that carries its solar arrays and radiators.
Airlock Quest airlock — The module from which United States spacewalks begin.
20 October 2026
Fourteen people were killed and seven injured when a gold mine collapsed in the rural Chambero sector of the Santa Barbara de Iscuande municipality in Narino department, in south-western Colombia.
Jorge Tovar Castillo, a disaster response official in Narino, reported that between 12 and 15 more miners were missing.
The Governor of Narino, Luis Alfonso Escobar, said search and rescue operations had concluded and described the mine as informal.
Santa Barbara de Iscuande is surrounded by dense rainforest and can be reached only by boat or small aircraft, and communication with the site was difficult.
Municipal authorities were handling the response.
Thirteen people died in a similar accident in August in Policarpa, also in Narino department.
Dead:
14
Injured:
7
Department:
Narino, Colombia
Why it matters for exams: The department and the country are the geography points a disaster question will use.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Department Department of Colombia — The first-level administrative division of Colombia, comparable to a State.
20 October 2026
Axios reported, citing two people with knowledge of the visit, that United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel.
Israel's Army Radio placed the meeting at an air force base in the country's southern desert.
Reuters said it could not immediately confirm the meeting, the Pentagon declined to comment, and Israel's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond.
In a social media post Hegseth said he had visited United States service members in the Central Command area, which covers West Asia, north-east Africa and parts of Asia, and the post did not mention Netanyahu.
A day earlier, President Donald Trump had endorsed Netanyahu in Israel's parliamentary election the following week.
It is the country's first vote since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, after which Israel fought wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
United States Vice President JD Vance declined to endorse Netanyahu, saying he was not getting involved in Israeli elections and that he endorses American candidates.
Command area visited:
Central Command
Israeli vote:
first since 7 October 2023
Why it matters for exams: The name of the combatant command and the office holders are the facts a diplomacy question tests.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CENTCOM United States Central Command — The United States combatant command responsible for West Asia, north-east Africa and parts of Asia.
20 October 2026
The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear a case brought by a group of parents organised as the Association for Education Fairness.
The case concerns four academically selective magnet schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington.
The admissions policy at issue was introduced in the 2021-2022 school year and is known as the Pandemic Plan.
Under it all students are screened for academic potential and a lottery then assigns students from that pool to magnet schools or to local schools with enriched instruction, with part of the screening comparing a student's test scores with those of students from families of similar income.
The parents argue that the screening makes it harder for Asian-American students to enter the lottery pool.
The school system says the policy is race-neutral and has called it colourblind.
Judge Paula Xinis of the United States District Court dismissed the suit in 2022, and the Supreme Court will consider whether the group has enough evidence of discrimination for the case to proceed, with arguments expected in the coming months and a ruling expected by June.
Schools involved:
four magnet schools
County:
Montgomery County, Maryland
Policy introduced:
2021-2022 school year
Why it matters for exams: The county, the policy name and the stage of the litigation are the specific facts in this item.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Magnet school Magnet school — A public school in the United States with a specialised curriculum that draws students from beyond its neighbourhood.
20 October 2026
The International Labour Organization ran a pilot training called Introduction to Green Construction Skills in the Philippines.
The course content was delivered by experts from Korea Polytechnic University.
It covers four areas: understanding green construction and sustainability, using eco-friendly materials and technologies, applying climate-responsive construction practices, and managing building resources.
The training is part of the ILO-Korea Partnership Programme on Advancing Digital and Green Skills for Youth in ASEAN, which runs from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2026.
Among those trained was Michelle Andrea Diyavati Menez, lead for sustainability and partnerships at Container Living, a circular construction company that has used decommissioned shipping containers as construction materials since 2014.
She joined through her organisation's partnership with the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology.
Course:
Introduction to Green Construction Skills
Programme period:
1 July 2024 to 31 December 2026
Content partner:
Korea Polytechnic University
Why it matters for exams: The programme name, the partner country and the four course areas are the askable details.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ILO International Labour Organization — The United Nations agency for labour standards and decent work.
Circular construction Circular construction — Building in a way that reuses materials instead of discarding them.
20 October 2026
An International Labour Organization project reported on cashew farming cooperatives in Bandarban, in the Chattogram Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
The pilot has supported 1,157 cashew farmers through 34 cooperatives.
The work is part of the project Promoting Gender-Responsive Enterprise Development and TVET Systems, funded by the Government of Canada and running from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2027.
The implementing partner in Bandarban, Tazingdong, brought farmers together to form cooperatives in September 2025.
Putuli Kheyang, 57, an Indigenous Kheyang woman who is president of her cooperative, cultivates about four acres of cashews, bananas and mangoes and harvested about 720 kg of cashews in 2025.
She received about 6,500 taka, or US$54, for 40 kg, against about 2,500 taka, or US$21, before, and earned about 117,000 taka, or US$959, from cashews that year.
Training covered cashew care, processing, marketing, cooperative management and negotiation with buyers.
The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Farmers supported:
1,157
Cooperatives:
34
Price for 40 kg:
about 6,500 taka, or US$54
Why it matters for exams: The cooperative and farmer counts and the United Nations year designation are the facts worth remembering.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training — Education and training that prepares people for specific trades and occupations.
Chattogram Hill Tracts Chattogram Hill Tracts — A hilly region in south-eastern Bangladesh with a large Indigenous population.
Background
Terrestrial water storage is the total water held on and under the land, including surface water, soil moisture, groundwater, snow and ice.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, known as GRACE, and its successor GRACE Follow-On measure it indirectly, by detecting changes in the Earth's gravity field as water moves.
Because water has mass, a region that gains or loses water changes the pull it exerts on a passing satellite.
The record built from these missions runs from April 2002 to November 2025.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used that record to separate human-driven changes from climate-driven ones.
It found that in four continental regions a human-related variable explained the trend better than any climate variable, and that retreating Himalayan glaciers accounted for 15 per cent of the decline in northern India.
Record period:
April 2002 to November 2025
What is measured:
changes in the Earth's gravity field
Why it matters for exams: Knowing what GRACE measures and how it measures it answers a whole family of science questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Terrestrial water storage Terrestrial water storage — All water held on and under the land surface, from soil moisture to groundwater, snow and ice.
Gravimetry Satellite gravimetry — Measuring mass changes on the Earth from the gravity they exert on a spacecraft.
Background
A World Health Organization advocacy brief titled The hidden inequalities behind noncommunicable diseases: from evidence to action runs to 30 pages and carries the reference number B09918.
It summarises the organisation's report State of inequality: noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors.
It sets out the gap in three layers: unequal exposure to risk factors, unequal access to health services, and unequal health outcomes.
It compares population groups by age, sex, economic status, education, employment, place of residence, disability and migration status.
It links socioeconomic disadvantage to higher exposure to tobacco use, unhealthy diets and air pollution, and to reduced access to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
It sets out three priorities: scaling up proven interventions, using disaggregated data to direct resources to those with the greatest need, and routinely measuring inequalities to track progress.
Pages:
30
Reference number:
B09918
Priorities set out:
three
Why it matters for exams: The three layers and the three priorities make a clean framework answer for a health question.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Disaggregated data Disaggregated data — Data broken down by groups such as income, sex or place of residence rather than reported only as a national average.
Risk factor Risk factor — An exposure or behaviour that raises the chance of developing a disease.