29 October 2026
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided on October 29, 2026 to leave the three key interest rates of the euro area unchanged. The deposit facility rate stays at 2.50 per cent, the rate on the main refinancing operations at 2.65 per cent and the rate on the marginal lending facility at 2.90 per cent. The deposit facility rate is the one through which the Council steers the policy stance of the euro area. The Council restated that it is determined to keep inflation at its 2 per cent medium-term target. Decisions of this kind are published as a press release at a fixed hour on the day the Governing Council meets, and are followed by a press conference. The Bank's communications are issued from its address at Sonnemannstrasse in Frankfurt am Main.
Deposit facility rate:
2.50%
Main refinancing operations:
2.65%
Marginal lending facility:
2.90%
Inflation target:
2%
Why it matters for exams: The European Central Bank's Governing Council, its three key rates and its 2 per cent inflation target are standard international economy facts.
UPSCBank
In plain words
ECB European Central Bank — The central bank of the euro area, seated at Frankfurt am Main.
28 October 2026
Vietnam signed the Artemis Accords on October 28, 2026, becoming the 78th nation to join them. The signing was done by Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan during Vietnam International Digital Week at Ha Long. NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson gave recorded remarks for the ceremony, saying Vietnam was joining at an important point in the development of its own space programme. The Accords were created in 2020 by NASA and the United States Department of State together with seven other founding nations, and set out principles for peaceful and transparent exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond. United States Ambassador to Vietnam Jennifer Wicks attended the ceremony, which the release placed within a United States and Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership spanning more than 30 years of cooperation. The release also noted work with the Vietnam National Space Center, the country's LOTUSat programme and work linked to NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission.
Signatory number:
78th
Signed by:
Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan
Accords created:
2020
Why it matters for exams: The Artemis Accords, the year they were created, the number of signatories and the two United States bodies behind them are directly askable facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Artemis Accords Principles for cooperation in civil exploration and use of the Moon, Mars and beyond — A set of non-binding principles for peaceful and transparent space exploration, created by NASA and the United States Department of State with seven other founding nations.
29 October 2026
NASA announced on October 29, 2026 that Troy Asher has been named director of its Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards in California. Asher, a veteran test pilot and aerospace engineer, had been serving as acting director of the centre since March. He succeeds Bradley Flick, who retired in March after nearly 40 years with the agency. The appointment was announced by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. Asher's own background is in flight test and aerospace engineering, and he had led the centre in an acting capacity for about seven months before the appointment was confirmed. The release carries the identifier RELEASE 26-092.
Centre:
Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
Predecessor:
Bradley Flick
Why it matters for exams: The Armstrong Flight Research Center, its location at Edwards in California and the NASA Administrator's name are the durable facts an appointment question would use.
UPSCSSC
In plain words
AFRC Armstrong Flight Research Center — A NASA field centre at Edwards in California.
28 October 2026
The California Institute of Technology announced on October 28, 2026 that Reid Wiseman has been named its associate vice president and deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with effect from November 30, 2026. Caltech manages the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is at Pasadena in California, for NASA. Wiseman commanded Artemis II, whose crew travelled 695,081 miles on a lunar flyby along with Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. He joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2009, flew the 165-day Expedition 41 mission to the International Space Station in 2014 and served as NASA's chief astronaut from December 2020 to November 2022. He will work with Dave Gallagher, the Laboratory's director, who is also a Caltech vice president. Caltech president Ray Jayawardhana and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman welcomed the appointment, which comes as the Laboratory approaches its 90th anniversary.
Appointment:
Deputy director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Effective from:
November 30, 2026
Artemis II distance travelled:
695,081 miles
Why it matters for exams: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the fact that Caltech manages it for NASA, its seat at Pasadena and the Artemis II crew are all exam-standard space facts.
UPSCSSC
In plain words
JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory — A NASA laboratory at Pasadena in California, managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
29 October 2026
A report titled Nature's comeback - scaling ecosystem restoration for people and planet was released on October 29, 2026 at the UN Biodiversity Conference. It is published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The report finds 252 million hectares under restoration across 149 countries, work that has already created more than a million green jobs. Terrestrial restoration has reached nearly half of the 2030 target of restoring 30 per cent of degraded land ecosystems. Freshwater restoration covers 11 million hectares in 62 countries and marine and coastal restoration 5.7 million hectares in 46 countries. China reports the largest terrestrial area under restoration, at 127.4 million hectares. The report says annual restoration finance must rise from 64 billion US dollars to 296 billion US dollars by 2030, an investment that could generate up to 32 million jobs.
Land under restoration:
252 million hectares in 149 countries
Largest terrestrial area:
China, 127.4 million hectares
Finance needed by 2030:
296 billion US dollars a year
Why it matters for exams: The report Nature's comeback, the three UN bodies that publish it and the 2030 target of restoring 30 per cent of degraded land ecosystems are named report facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme — The UN body for the environment, one of the three publishers of this report.
28 October 2026
On 28 October 2026 the Bank of Canada moved its overnight rate target up by 25 basis points, taking it to 2.5 per cent. The Bank Rate goes with it to 2.75 per cent and the deposit rate to 2.45 per cent. Canada's policy interest rate is the overnight rate target, announced on fixed dates set out in advance for the year. The Bank Rate is what the central bank charges when it lends to financial institutions, and it sits a quarter of a percentage point above the policy rate. On balances held with it, the Bank pays the deposit rate. Earlier announcements in 2026 had left the policy rate at 2.25 per cent, so this is a change of direction.
Policy rate:
2.5%
Increase:
25 basis points
Bank Rate:
2.75%
Deposit rate:
2.45%
Why it matters for exams: The Bank of Canada's policy rate, called the target for the overnight rate, and the Bank Rate set above it are the kind of central-bank facts asked in banking and economy papers.
UPSCBank
In plain words
Bank Rate Bank of Canada lending rate — The rate at which the Bank of Canada lends to financial institutions, set above its policy rate.
29 October 2026
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released its Guidelines for Integrated Land Use Planning on 29 October 2026, bringing them out at COP17, the biodiversity conference held under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Its land use planning guidance had not been overhauled since 1993, so this is the first major update in more than three decades. A nine-step framework sits at the centre of the guidelines, and a Practitioners' Guide turning those steps into practice is to follow. Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General, said demands on land, soil and water compete with one another and must be weighed together instead of sector by sector. The organisation's land and water programme prepared the guidance, which was also discussed at the thirtieth session of the FAO Committee on Agriculture. Land use decisions are tied in it to the Rio Conventions and to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Guidelines:
Guidelines for Integrated Land Use Planning
Previous version:
1993
Framework:
Nine steps
Why it matters for exams: The Convention on Biological Diversity and its Conference of the Parties, the FAO Committee on Agriculture and the FAO itself are named international bodies that recur in question papers.
UPSC
In plain words
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity — A multilateral treaty on conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity; its member states meet at the Conference of the Parties.
28 October 2026
At its forty-sixth Board meeting, held at Songdo in the Republic of Korea and reported on 28 October 2026, the Green Climate Fund cleared two projects coming to 184.8 million US dollars together. Algeria's project, which works on climate resilience in the steppe and the dry forest belt of its Green Dam, receives a grant of 43 million US dollars from the Fund alongside 56.5 million US dollars that the government puts in. It covers 454,138 hectares in six provinces over seven years, with restoration planned on more than 59,000 hectares, and it builds on the Green Dam, or Barrage Vert, begun in 1971. Mexico's is a results-based payment of 85.3 million US dollars for emission reductions already achieved, about 12.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and it is carried out with CONAFOR, the National Forestry Commission. No project had been approved under the Fund's new results-based payment policy before this one. For both, the Food and Agriculture Organization is the accredited entity.
Total approved:
184.8 million US dollars
Board meeting:
46th, at Songdo, Republic of Korea
Algeria project area:
454,138 hectares in six provinces
Why it matters for exams: The Green Climate Fund, its seat at Songdo in the Republic of Korea, Algeria's Green Dam or Barrage Vert and Mexico's CONAFOR are the durable facts here.
UPSC
In plain words
GCF Green Climate Fund — A climate finance fund for developing countries, with its headquarters at Songdo in the Republic of Korea.
29 October 2026
On 29 October 2026 the World Meteorological Organization put out an analysis of 35 government-validated roadmaps for multi-hazard early warning systems, drawn up under the EW4All initiative. Over 50 countries are now carrying the rollout forward, and as of 13 August 2026 fifty had launched a roadmap with the Organization's help. Those 35 countries hold about 960 million people, including 339 million children up to the age of 14 and 128 million young people between 18 and 24. Across the roadmaps sixteen different hazards are prioritised, ranging from weather and water hazards to geological ones and to hazards that are not natural at all. Clear budgets appear in twenty of the roadmaps, totalling about 1.38 billion US dollars, which averages roughly 69 million US dollars for each country. The analysis connects the roadmaps to the Sendai Framework, to national adaptation plans and to nationally determined contributions, and names regional bodies such as ECOWAS, ECCAS, SADC and ASEAN.
Roadmaps analysed:
35
Population covered:
About 960 million
Investment need in 20 budgeted roadmaps:
About USD 1.38 billion
Why it matters for exams: The World Meteorological Organization, multi-hazard early warning systems and the Sendai Framework are named disaster-management facts a paper can ask about.
UPSC
In plain words
EW4All Early Warnings for All — A United Nations initiative to extend early warning coverage to everyone on Earth, in which the World Meteorological Organization supports national roadmaps.
MHEWS Multi-hazard early warning system — A warning system that covers several hazards together rather than one at a time.
28 October 2026
A five-country project on water management and early warning in the Lake Chad Basin was launched on 28 October 2026 at a workshop in N'Djamena. The Lake Chad Basin Commission leads it, working with the World Meteorological Organization and Global Water Partnership Central Africa, and it runs in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and the Central African Republic. Money comes from the Adaptation Fund, a grant of 11,665,500 US dollars spread over five years. Between 1970 and 2020 the basin went through more than 48 flood and drought disasters, which affected over 31 million people and killed nearly 4,000; more than 50 million people living there are exposed to such events. Direct benefit is expected for about 22.5 million people who have a radio or a mobile telephone. Four strands make up the work: better weather and river monitoring, forecasting products and a warning mechanism that crosses borders, awareness among decision makers, and stronger response in communities.
Grant:
US$ 11,665,500 from the Adaptation Fund
Duration:
Five years
Expected direct beneficiaries:
About 22.5 million
Why it matters for exams: The Lake Chad Basin Commission, the five countries of the basin, the Adaptation Fund and N'Djamena as the capital of Chad are durable geography and institutions facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
LCBC Lake Chad Basin Commission — The intergovernmental commission of the Lake Chad basin states, which leads this project.
29 October 2026
To mark the International Day of Care and Support, the International Labour Organization put out a statement from its Director-General on 29 October 2026. Care and support for children, for older people and for persons with disabilities is provided by millions of care workers, and the statement says that essential though this work is, their hours remain excessively long and their labour and social protection inadequate. Domestic workers, it notes, form a vital part of this workforce, are mostly women, and take home less than half what other employees earn on average. The Organization asks for investment in care and support that is comprehensive and rights-based and reaches everyone, and for every care worker to be properly protected and paid. Its 5R Framework for decent care work runs through the statement: recognise, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, and reward care workers and give them representation. The closing appeal is for decent work to become a reality for all of them.
Day marked:
International Day of Care and Support
Framework:
ILO 5R Framework for decent care work
Why it matters for exams: The International Day of Care and Support and the International Labour Organization's 5R Framework for decent care work are named facts that an examiner can ask about.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ILO International Labour Organization — The United Nations agency for labour standards and decent work.
Background
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is described by its own members as the largest humanitarian network in the world. It has three components: the ICRC, in full the International Committee of the Red Cross; the National Societies, each of them a Red Cross or a Red Crescent Society; and the IFRC, which federates those societies. Seven Fundamental Principles bind them: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. Neutrality means the Movement does not take sides in hostilities. Impartiality means it makes no distinction as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions, and gives priority to the most urgent cases of distress. Unity allows a country only one such society, which must be open to all and must work across the whole territory. The ICRC itself is neutral, impartial and independent, and runs offices in over 90 countries.
Components:
ICRC, National Societies, IFRC
Fundamental Principles:
7
ICRC country presence:
offices in over 90 countries
Why it matters for exams: The three components of the Movement, the expansion of IFRC and the seven Fundamental Principles are repeat questions on international humanitarian bodies.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross — A neutral, impartial and independent body that protects and assists people caught in armed conflict.
IFRC International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies — The federation of the National Societies, and one of the Movement's three components.