31 October 2026
President Rodrigo Paz of Bolivia has declared a state of emergency across the country to free up money and resources for dealing with the El Nino weather pattern. Figures from the Vice Ministry of Civil Defence put the number of families hit by drought at at least 78,200, in seven of Bolivia's nine departments. The affected departments are La Paz, Oruro, Potosi, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Tarija and Santa Cruz. A government report counted the loss of more than 75,000 cattle. El Nino is the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation in the tropical Pacific, and it shifts rainfall patterns across South America, southern Africa, South-East Asia and Australia. Bolivia is a landlocked country with La Paz as its seat of government and Sucre as its constitutional capital.
Families affected:
At least 78,200
Departments affected:
7 of Bolivia's 9
Why it matters for exams: El Nino is the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, and Bolivia has La Paz as seat of government with Sucre as constitutional capital.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ENSO El Nino Southern Oscillation — The cycle of warming and cooling in the tropical Pacific that shifts rainfall around the world.
1 November 2026
A European Commission spokesperson has said that appointing eight new members of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal falls within the constitutional power of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament. The statement came during a standoff over the court. The Tribunal's chief judge, Bogdan Swieczkowski, who had been appointed during the Law and Justice government of 2015 to 2023, was suspended, and President Karol Nawrocki then held talks at the presidential palace attended by nationalist, far-right and some governing coalition parties, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition stayed away. The Commission urged Nawrocki to accept the nomination of the new judges. The European Court of Human Rights had earlier issued interim measures requiring the competent Polish authorities to stop obstructing certain judges. Prime Minister Donald Tusk traces the quarrel over who may sit on the Tribunal to the Law and Justice government of 2015 to 2023. The Constitutional Tribunal is Poland's court for testing laws against the constitution.
New Tribunal members at issue:
8
President of Poland:
Karol Nawrocki
Prime Minister of Poland:
Donald Tusk
Why it matters for exams: The Sejm is the lower house of Poland's parliament, and the Constitutional Tribunal is the court that tests Polish laws against the constitution.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Sejm Sejm of the Republic of Poland — The lower house of Poland's parliament; the upper house is the Senate.
ECHR European Court of Human Rights — The court at Strasbourg that hears cases under the European Convention on Human Rights.
31 October 2026
A UN News report describes how Samarkand in Uzbekistan is coping with a sharp rise in visitors. The Registan, the city's great square of madrasas, is part of the old city of Samarkand, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Uzbekistan drew about 1.2 million tourists in 2016 and nearly 12 million in 2025, a tenfold rise across the decade. Building has followed the visitors, with more than 1,100 apartment buildings going up in the Samarkand Region over the past eight years. New railways and a high-speed highway linking the city into wider routes are due for completion between 2030 and 2032. Uzbek palov culture, the country's rice dish tradition, is on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Samarkand sits on the old Silk Road and was the capital of Timur's empire, and the report weighs the income from tourism against the pressure on a living city of old monuments.
Tourists to Uzbekistan:
About 1.2 million in 2016; nearly 12 million in 2025
New apartment buildings:
More than 1,100 in eight years
Rail and highway completion:
Between 2030 and 2032
Why it matters for exams: The old city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and Uzbek palov culture is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Registan Registan square, Samarkand — The central square of Samarkand ringed by madrasas, part of the World Heritage site.
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — The UN agency at Paris that maintains the World Heritage and intangible heritage lists.
31 October 2026
The World Health Organization marked World Cities Day by putting housing forward as a health matter. Drawing on UN-Habitat's World Cities Report 2026, it says as many as 3.4 billion people go without secure, safe and adequate housing, and that over a billion live in informal settlements and slums. The WHO points readers to its own Housing and health guidelines, which set out evidence-based advice on crowded homes, indoor heat and cold, injury risks and homes a disabled person cannot use. Each of those, it says, adds to illness and injury. Two other instruments are named: the Global guide for strategic action on urban health, and the Initiative on Urban Governance for Health and Well-being. The statement also recalls the WHO Healthy Cities Recognition Awards in the Western Pacific, given for work on housing conditions, urban flooding and greenhouse gas emissions. World Cities Day falls on 31 October, set by a resolution of the UN General Assembly.
People without adequate housing:
Up to 3.4 billion
People in informal settlements and slums:
More than 1 billion
Report cited:
UN-Habitat World Cities Report 2026
Why it matters for exams: UN-Habitat publishes the World Cities Report, and the WHO's Housing and health guidelines are its standard document on housing as a health risk.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UN-Habitat United Nations Human Settlements Programme — The UN programme on cities and housing, with headquarters at Nairobi.
WHO World Health Organization — The UN specialized agency for health, with headquarters at Geneva.
31 October 2026
The Youth Olympic Games have opened in Senegal, which the International Olympic Committee calls the first Olympic sporting event to be held on African soil. Saturday's Opening Ceremony was staged at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium, which seats 50,000 and stands in Diamniadio. That town sits roughly 30 kilometres away from Dakar, the Senegalese capital. The ceremony began a fortnight of sport and cultural exchange. The Youth Olympic Games is the IOC's own competition for teenaged athletes, run apart from the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Senegal is a country on Africa's west coast, and this edition takes its name from Dakar.
Host country:
Senegal
Opening venue:
Abdoulaye Wade Stadium, Diamniadio
Stadium capacity:
50,000
Duration:
14 days of sport and cultural exchange
Why it matters for exams: Dakar 2026 is the first Olympic sporting event held on African soil, and Dakar is the capital of Senegal.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
YOG Youth Olympic Games — The International Olympic Committee's multi-sport event for young athletes, held separately from the Olympic Games.
IOC International Olympic Committee — The body based at Lausanne in Switzerland that governs the Olympic movement.
Background
The World Trade Organization was established on 1 January 1995 and has its seat at Geneva in Switzerland. It has 166 members, which together account for 98 per cent of world trade. The organization came out of the Uruguay Round of negotiations held between 1986 and 1994, which followed decades of trade rules under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Its highest decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference; the twelfth such conference, MC12, met at Geneva in June 2022. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. Members use the organization to negotiate trade rules and to settle disputes with one another under agreed procedures. India is a founding member.
Established:
1 January 1995
Members:
166, about 98 per cent of world trade
Headquarters:
Geneva, Switzerland
Director-General:
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the seventh
Why it matters for exams: The WTO was established on 1 January 1995 at Geneva, has 166 members, and its highest body is the Ministerial Conference.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — The post-war trade agreement whose rules the WTO took over and widened.
Background
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted on 16 September 1987 and is one of very few treaties to have reached universal ratification. It works by phasing out the production and use of chemicals that thin the ozone layer in the stratosphere, which shields life on earth from ultraviolet radiation. Under the Kigali Amendment, countries agreed to add hydrofluorocarbons to the list of controlled substances; hydrofluorocarbons do not harm ozone but are powerful greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning. The Kigali Amendment came into force on 1 January 2019 for the countries that had ratified it. The anniversary of the adoption, 16 September, is observed each year as World Ozone Day. India is a party to the Protocol and to the Kigali Amendment.
Adopted:
16 September 1987
Kigali Amendment in force:
1 January 2019
Substances added at Kigali:
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
Why it matters for exams: The Montreal Protocol was adopted on 16 September 1987 and the Kigali Amendment added hydrofluorocarbons to its controlled substances.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
HFC Hydrofluorocarbon — A refrigerant gas that does not deplete ozone but warms the atmosphere strongly.
Background
The Chemical Weapons Convention has 193 States committed to it, making it one of the most widely accepted disarmament treaties. It bars States Parties from developing, producing, acquiring, stockpiling, retaining, transferring or using chemical weapons. The treaty is implemented by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which verifies declarations and inspects industrial and military sites. Article XXI of the Convention deals with its entry into force. Unlike some other disarmament instruments, the Convention bans an entire category of weapons rather than limiting numbers, and it requires parties to destroy stockpiles they already hold. India is a State Party.
States Parties:
193
Implementing body:
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Entry into force article:
Article XXI
Why it matters for exams: The Chemical Weapons Convention has 193 States Parties and is implemented by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
OPCW Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — The body that verifies compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.