4 November 2026
The World Health Organization has published a report titled A generation missing out: global trends in adolescent physical activity, 2010-2025. It draws on 389 population-based surveys from 140 countries and territories covering more than 3.2 million adolescents aged 11 to 17. In 2025 one in four adolescents reported not a single day in the previous week with at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Only 14 per cent said they were active on all seven days. Girls were consistently less active than boys, and levels varied widely between countries. Global activity levels have changed little since 2010, and the report says no country is on track for the agreed target of a 15 per cent relative cut in physical inactivity by 2030. The World Health Organization recommends an average of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day for children and adolescents.
Surveys used:
389
Countries and territories:
140
Adolescents covered:
More than 3.2 million, aged 11-17
Active all seven days:
14 per cent
2030 target:
15 per cent relative reduction in physical inactivity
Why it matters for exams: The report A generation missing out: global trends in adolescent physical activity, 2010-2025 is published by the World Health Organization, and it measures progress against the global target of a 15 per cent relative reduction in physical inactivity by 2030.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
WHO World Health Organization — The United Nations specialised agency for health, with headquarters at Geneva.
4 November 2026
South Africa is holding its local government elections. Voting on election day follows two days of special voting, on which 1,425,942 people cast their ballots. Of these, 974,852 voted at voting stations and 451,090 were visited at home. About 2.6 million voters had been approved for special voting, which is open to people who cannot reach a station on election day. The Electoral Commission of South Africa, chaired by Mosotho Moepya, runs the poll. Local government elections choose councillors for metropolitan, district and local municipalities, and South Africa holds them separately from its national and provincial elections. The previous municipal elections were held in 2021.
Special votes cast:
1,425,942
At voting stations:
974,852
Home visits:
451,090
IEC chairperson:
Mosotho Moepya
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Electoral Commission of South Africa and its chairperson Mosotho Moepya, and the three-tier municipal structure of metropolitan, district and local municipalities that these elections fill.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IEC Electoral Commission of South Africa — The independent body that conducts elections in South Africa.
3 November 2026
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting has issued its communique from St. John's in Antigua and Barbuda. The meeting ran from 1 to 4 November 2026 under the theme Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth. The communique reaffirms earlier Commonwealth mandates, declarations and ministerial outcomes, and endorses the Outcome Statement of the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting on maritime boundaries and sea-level rise. It recognises the Nadi Declaration on Democratic Resilience and Participation as a framework for the association's work, and welcomes the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration adopted by Pacific Islands Forum leaders. The communique notes that the Commonwealth covers a population of 2.7 billion people and that 97 Accredited Organisations work with it. The summit is normally held every two years and is the association's highest-level gathering.
Venue:
St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
Dates:
1-4 November 2026
Theme:
Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth
Population covered:
2.7 billion
Accredited Organisations:
97
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, its theme Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth, and the Nadi Declaration on Democratic Resilience and Participation.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting — The Commonwealth's highest-level summit, normally held every two years.
3 November 2026
The Reserve Bank of Australia has raised its cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.85 per cent, up from 4.60 per cent. The decision was taken by the bank's Monetary Policy Board, where six members voted for the increase and three voted to leave the rate unchanged, so the decision was by majority. The Board said inflation is now expected to stay above 3 per cent for the coming year, and that it does not expect inflation to come back to the top of the 2 to 3 per cent target range until late 2027, about three quarters later than it had earlier forecast. The cash rate is the interest rate on unsecured overnight loans between banks in Australia, and the Reserve Bank steers it to meet its inflation target. Governor Michele Bullock addressed the media after the decision.
New cash rate target:
4.85 per cent
Previous rate:
4.60 per cent
Vote:
6 for the increase, 3 for no change
Inflation target band:
2 to 3 per cent
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate as its policy rate, its Monetary Policy Board, the 2 to 3 per cent inflation target band and Governor Michele Bullock.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
RBA Reserve Bank of Australia — Australia's central bank, which sets the cash rate target.
3 November 2026
The United Nations Population Fund has told a press briefing in Geneva that displacement from Yemen's west coast and the city of Taiz has tripled to nearly 300,000 people. Women and children account for over half of that total, while a woman heads the household in upwards of a third of the displaced families. The agency's Representative in Yemen, Francesco Galtieri, speaking by video link from Aden, said more than 13,000 pregnant women live in the Taiz area, of whom about 6,400 have been displaced, and that roughly 1,500 obstetric emergencies are expected among them. Only five of the 27 hospitals designated for emergency maternal and newborn care in Taiz are partly working. At one hospital daily deliveries have halved and the number of working incubators for premature babies has fallen from 40 to ten because of fuel shortages. Even before this escalation, Yemen had the highest maternal mortality rate in the Arab region. The Fund is working with 129 community midwives and five mobile teams.
Displaced:
Nearly 300,000
Pregnant women in Taiz area:
More than 13,000
Hospitals partly working:
5 of 27
UNFPA Representative in Yemen:
Francesco Galtieri
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the United Nations Population Fund as the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, and Yemen's position as the country with the highest maternal mortality rate in the Arab region.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund — The United Nations agency for sexual and reproductive health, including maternal care.
3 November 2026
The United Nations Children's Fund has reported almost 2,000 attacks on education in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion of 2022, including about 270 this year. Since the academic year began, children have sat through an average of 34 hours of air raid alarms during school time, more than 13 per cent of scheduled learning hours. In the Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad and Kharkiv regions alarms during school time crossed 60 hours, close to a quarter of scheduled learning, affecting more than 560,000 children. In Kyiv the number of alarms in September rose from 12 a year earlier to 71. UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires gave the figures, and the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, and the head of Education Cannot Wait, Maysa Jabout, also spoke. The agency called for schools and children to be protected under international humanitarian law.
Attacks on education since 2022:
Almost 2,000
Average alarm hours in school time:
34 hours
Share of scheduled learning lost:
More than 13 per cent
Children in worst-hit regions:
More than 560,000
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the United Nations Children's Fund as the UN agency for children, Education Cannot Wait as the global fund for education in emergencies, and the protection of schools under international humanitarian law.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund — The United Nations agency for children, with headquarters in New York.
Education Cannot Wait Education Cannot Wait — The global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, hosted by UNICEF.
3 November 2026
The International Court of Justice has fixed 19 November 2026 as the day it will give judgment in The Gambia's case against Myanmar under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Filed in November 2019, the case argues that Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya breached that Convention. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh after Myanmar's security forces began a campaign in northern Rakhine State in August 2017. The Court, which sits at the Peace Palace in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and decides disputes between States. Its judgments in such contentious cases are final and binding on the parties. Under the Convention, any State party may bring another before the Court over a breach of its terms, whether or not it has itself been harmed.
Ruling date announced:
19 November 2026
Applicant State:
The Gambia
Case filed:
November 2019
Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh:
More than 700,000
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the International Court of Justice at The Hague as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the Genocide Convention of 1948, and The Gambia v. Myanmar as the case filed in November 2019 over the Rohingya.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICJ International Court of Justice — The principal judicial organ of the United Nations, sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
3 November 2026
The Democrats have won control of the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections, NBC News projects. Its analysis puts the party at about 255 House seats, well above the 218 needed for a majority. NBC News also projects that the Democrats will flip the Senate, giving them charge of both chambers of Congress. The party had needed a net gain of only three House seats to take the majority back. The new Congress takes office next year, in the second half of President Donald Trump's term. TIME reports that the Associated Press has also called both chambers for the Democrats; the official results are certified later. Trump congratulated the party but said he did not see the outcome as a rebuke of his presidency.
House winner (projected):
Democrats, about 255 seats
Seats needed for House majority:
218
Senate (projected):
Democrats flip control
President:
Donald Trump
Why it matters for exams: The structure of the US Congress (a 435-member House where 218 is a majority, and a 100-member Senate) and the midterm cycle are standard world-polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Midterm elections — US federal elections held halfway through a President's four-year term.
Congress United States Congress — The two-chamber legislature of the US: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Flip — To win a chamber or seat from the other party.