4 October 2026
Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan handed over the first instalment of 3 lakh houses worth Rs 3,600 crore to Andhra Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin 2.0 at Burripalem village in Guntur district on 4 October 2026.
The State's original allocation was 76,000 houses; it was raised to 3 lakh.
He laid the foundation stone for the country's first pilot housing project using 3D concrete printing technology - 177 houses at a cost of Rs 14 crore in Burripalem and Obulnayudupalem villages of Guntur district, to be completed within six months.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister of State Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani were present.
The release notes that PM-KISAN's Rs 6,000 a year and the State's Annadata Sukhibhava's Rs 14,000 a year together give a farmer Rs 20,000 a year.
It also sets a Lakhpati Didi target of 60 lakh women in the State, against 23 lakh at present.
Houses handed over (first instalment):
3 lakh
Worth:
Rs 3,600 crore
Original allocation:
76,000 houses
3D-printed houses:
177
Cost of 3D project:
Rs 14 crore
Why it matters for exams: Scheme name with version, the exact outlay and a first-of-its-kind construction technology make this a ready one-mark question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PMAY-G Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin — The Centre's rural housing scheme that gives assistance to build a pucca house to eligible rural households.
Lakhpati Didi Lakhpati Didi initiative — A rural livelihoods push to raise self-help group women's annual household income to at least one lakh rupees.
4 October 2026
The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare announced on 4 October 2026 that Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, will chair the 17th Pension Adalat on 5 October 2026.
The venue is the T. N. Chaturvedi Memorial Hall at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, and the Adalat will be held in hybrid mode.
897 long-pending grievances of super-senior pensioners and family pensioners, filed on the CPENGRAMS portal, drawn from 24 Ministries and Departments, will be taken up.
The Pension Adalat is an on-the-spot grievance redressal mechanism for Central Government pensioners, begun in 2017.
Across the first 16 editions, 20,676 of 28,797 grievances were resolved, a success rate of 71.79 per cent.
Success-story flyers from the Adalat of 13 May 2026 and a booklet of frequently asked questions for family pensioners will be released.
Edition:
17th Pension Adalat
Grievances listed:
897
Ministries/Departments:
24
Resolved in 16 editions:
20,676 of 28,797 (71.79 per cent)
Why it matters for exams: An examiner can ask the edition number, the portal name or the cumulative resolution rate of a grievance redressal mechanism.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CPENGRAMS Centralised Pension Grievance Redress and Monitoring System — The Centre's online portal on which Central Government pensioners file and track grievances.
IIPA Indian Institute of Public Administration — A Delhi-based institute for training and research in public administration.
4 October 2026
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav released two male Great Indian Bustards into the wild at Sam in the Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, on 4 October 2026.
Rajasthan's Minister for Forest and Environment Sanjay Sharma was present.
The Bustard Recovery Programme is run by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India, with technical support from the International Fund for Houbara Conservation.
The conservation breeding facilities at Sam and Ramdevra hold 97 birds - 40 raised from wild-laid eggs and 57 captive-bred. Eleven have been earmarked for release.
The programme produced 24 live chicks in 2025 and 29 in 2026.
Under the jumpstart approach, captive-laid eggs placed in wild nests hatched six chicks in Rajasthan and two in Gujarat.
About 200 square kilometres of fenced grassland enclosures have been created inside the Desert National Park for breeding.
Birds released:
2 males
Birds in breeding facilities:
97 (40 from wild-laid eggs, 57 captive-bred)
Earmarked for release:
11
Live chicks:
24 in 2025; 29 in 2026
Fenced grassland enclosures:
About 200 sq km
Why it matters for exams: A flagship species, a named national park and hard breeding figures are classic environment questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps — A large grassland bird of western India, now confined mainly to the Thar desert region of Rajasthan.
WII Wildlife Institute of India — A Dehradun-based institute under the Environment Ministry that does wildlife research and training.
4 October 2026
The Ministry of Jal Shakti said on 3 October 2026 that Jal Arpan was observed in more than 1,850 gram panchayats across rural India as part of the Special Gram Sabhas held on Gandhi Jayanti.
Jal Arpan is a reform under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 that formally places rural drinking water supply systems in the hands of the gram panchayat and the community.
346 Har Ghar Jal certificates were issued in regional languages; the certificate is available in 19 languages.
2,691 water supply assets were geo-tagged, including about 700 sources, under the Sujalam Bharat digital asset management initiative.
More than 15.96 crore rural households, over 82 per cent of rural households, now have a tap water connection.
The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation built a dedicated Jal Arpan digital module to support gram panchayat-led management.
Gram panchayats:
More than 1,850
Rural households with tap connection:
More than 15.96 crore (over 82 per cent)
Assets geo-tagged:
2,691
Har Ghar Jal certificates:
346, in 19 languages
Why it matters for exams: The tap connection coverage figure and the name of the handover reform under the mission's second phase are both askable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Jal Jeevan Mission Jal Jeevan Mission — The Centre's programme to provide a functional household tap water connection to every rural household.
Jal Arpan Jal Arpan reform — The formal handover of a completed rural water supply scheme to the gram panchayat for operation and upkeep.
4 October 2026
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, launched a digital platform named Satyagraha in New Delhi on 3 October 2026.
A person can register a protest or movement by filling a form with a name, the group and the details of the protest; the entry then appears on a map alongside similar movements elsewhere in the country.
Gandhi said the form takes about two minutes to fill.
The movements it is meant to cover include those on land rights, women's rights, Dalit rights, Other Backward Classes rights, education and examinations.
Gandhi said that across the country people are fighting for their rights and too often fighting alone, and that it is important for him to help people resist where truth is being crushed.
The platform was launched a day after the 157th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Platform:
Satyagraha
Launched by:
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
Date:
3 October 2026
Why it matters for exams: The name of a new national platform, who launched it and the office that person holds are all one-mark material.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Satyagraha Satyagraha — Mahatma Gandhi's method of non-violent resistance to injustice.
Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha — The leader of the largest opposition party in the House, given statutory status and a place on several high appointment committees.
4 October 2026
The Ministry of Textiles announced on 4 October 2026 that Reform Utsav 2026 will be held at Hyderabad, Telangana, on 6 October 2026, organised through the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd.
The reforms to be showcased centre on empowering cotton farmers, improving transparency and strengthening India's cotton value chain.
The Kapas Kisan digital platform allows farmer registration, slot booking, procurement communication and Aadhaar-enabled payments.
Contamination control and digital traceability work is being taken up under Kasturi Cotton Bharat.
The High-Density Planting System is the productivity-oriented intervention named to address the productivity gap in Indian cotton.
The same showcase will also cover the Central Silk Board's sericulture work - silk germplasm conservation, silkworm rearing, cocoon production, reeling, weaving and dyeing demonstrations, Silk Mark, host-plant and moth parks - alongside the cotton reforms.
Government officials, Telangana representatives, policymakers, farmers and industry stakeholders are to take part.
Event:
Reform Utsav 2026
Venue and date:
Hyderabad, Telangana, 6 October 2026
Organiser:
Ministry of Textiles through Cotton Corporation of India Ltd.
Digital platform:
Kapas Kisan
Why it matters for exams: Kasturi Cotton Bharat and the Cotton Corporation of India recur in agriculture and textiles questions, and a new digital procurement platform is fresh material.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CCI Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. — A public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Textiles that undertakes price support purchase of cotton from growers.
Kasturi Cotton Bharat Kasturi Cotton Bharat — India's branding and traceability programme for certified Indian cotton.
4 October 2026
Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan addressed the 58th Foundation Day of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 4 October 2026.
He said good governance is the invisible infrastructure that sustains investor confidence, and described Company Secretaries as Guardians of Governance and the nucleus of the trust architecture of Indian industry.
He said technology may transform the manner in which information is generated and decisions are supported, but integrity, accountability, transparency and responsibility remain human.
He named the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India as institutional pillars for building a Viksit Bharat.
The MSME Compliance Calendar 2027 was launched at the event, and the ICSI MSME and Start-up Catalyst programme and fee-waiver initiatives for young entrants were highlighted.
ICSI President C.S. Pawan Chandak, former Rajya Sabha member Dr. Sonal Mansingh and ICSI Secretary C.S. Asish Mohan were present.
Occasion:
58th Foundation Day of ICSI
Venue and date:
Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, 4 October 2026
Launched at the event:
MSME Compliance Calendar 2027
Why it matters for exams: The three statutory professional institutes and a newly launched compliance calendar are standard economy and governance material.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICSI Institute of Company Secretaries of India — The statutory professional body that regulates and develops the profession of Company Secretaries in India.
ICMAI Institute of Cost Accountants of India — The statutory body for the cost and management accountancy profession in India.
Background
Project Elephant is a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, launched in February 1992.
It gives financial and technical support to major elephant-bearing States for the protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors.
It also seeks to address human-elephant conflict and the welfare of domesticated elephants.
Critical elephant habitats are notified as Elephant Reserves, with the approval of a Steering Committee chaired by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Elephant Reserves overlap with Tiger Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Reserved Forests, and activities in them are regulated under the existing Acts, Rules and Guidelines.
Type of scheme:
Centrally sponsored
Launched:
February 1992
Reserve approval body:
Steering Committee chaired by the Environment Minister
Why it matters for exams: Project Elephant's nature, aims and the Elephant Reserve mechanism are regular environment-paper questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Elephant Reserve Notified critical elephant habitat — An area notified for focused elephant conservation, which can overlap with tiger reserves and sanctuaries.
Background
The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act became law in 2003.
Its objective is inter-generational equity in fiscal management, long-run macroeconomic stability, better coordination between fiscal and monetary policy, and transparency in fiscal operations.
Its original provisions made it mandatory for the Central government to take measures to reduce the fiscal deficit, eliminate the revenue deficit and generate a revenue surplus; amendments in 2012 and 2015 revised the targets and their dates.
It bans the Reserve Bank of India from buying primary issues of Central Government securities after 2006, preventing monetisation of the government's deficit and making monetary policy independent of fiscal policy.
The government must lay three policy statements before Parliament in each financial year: the Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement, the Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement and the Macroeconomic Framework Policy Statement.
The government can move away from the fiscal consolidation path only in case of natural calamity, national security and other exceptional grounds.
Policy statements each year:
3
Purchase of primary issues of Central Government securities by the RBI:
Banned after 2006
Departure allowed for:
Natural calamity, national security, other exceptional grounds
Why it matters for exams: The FRBM Act's aims, its ban on borrowing from the RBI and its three statements are standard economy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Fiscal deficit Gap between total expenditure and total non-debt receipts — The amount the government has to borrow in a year to meet its spending.
Revenue deficit Shortfall of revenue receipts against revenue expenditure — It shows the government is borrowing even to meet day-to-day spending.
Background
The Constitution as enforced on 26 January 1950 did not mention the duties of citizens.
The Fundamental Duties, ten in number, were added in 1976 by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, on the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee, in Article 51A.
The duty relating to compulsory education for children was incorporated by the 86th Constitutional Amendment in 2002.
They include abiding by the Constitution and respecting the National Flag and National Anthem, protecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the nation, safeguarding public property, protecting the environment and striving for excellence.
Unlike Fundamental Rights, which are justiciable, the Fundamental Duties are non-justiciable.
Article:
51A
Added by:
42nd Amendment, on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendations
Original number:
Ten
Enforceability:
Non-justiciable
Why it matters for exams: Which Amendment added the Fundamental Duties, which committee recommended them and why they are non-justiciable are perennial polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Non-justiciable Not enforceable through courts — A provision that a citizen cannot ask a court to enforce directly.
Background
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was passed by Parliament and published in the Official Gazette in 2016, consolidating insolvency laws for companies, limited liability entities, partnership firms and individuals into a single law.
When a corporate entity defaults on its debt, control shifts from the shareholders and promoters to a committee of creditors.
The creditors have 180 days, extendable in deserving cases, to evaluate proposals to resolve the default; the outer limit is 330 days in specified circumstances.
Operational creditors such as workmen and suppliers can also start the process on non-payment of dues.
If insolvency cannot be resolved, the assets of the borrower may be sold to repay creditors.
The National Company Law Tribunal adjudicates for companies, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India regulates insolvency professionals, their agencies and information utilities.
Resolution time:
180 days, extendable up to 330 days in specified circumstances
Who takes control on default:
Committee of creditors
Adjudicating body for companies:
National Company Law Tribunal
Why it matters for exams: The IBC's time limits, committee of creditors and adjudicating bodies are standard banking and economy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NCLT National Company Law Tribunal — The tribunal that adjudicates corporate insolvency resolution under the Code.
Operational creditor Creditor owed for goods or services — A creditor such as a supplier or workman owed dues for operations.
Background
The 73rd Constitutional Amendment of 1993 added Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution.
The Eleventh Schedule lists 29 subjects over which Panchayats have decision-making powers.
Part IX set up a three-tier structure: Gram Panchayats at the village level, Panchayat Samitis at the intermediate or block level and Zilla Parishads at the district level.
All members of the three bodies are elected; the chairpersons at the intermediate and district levels are indirectly elected from among the elected members.
At every level, seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population.
A Gram Sabha consists of all persons registered in the electoral rolls of a village within a Gram Panchayat's area, and its powers and functions are determined by State legislatures through law.
Constitutional addition:
Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule
Subjects in the Eleventh Schedule:
29
Tiers:
Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zilla Parishad
Why it matters for exams: The structure created by the 73rd Amendment, the Eleventh Schedule and the Gram Sabha are recurring polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Gram Sabha Village assembly of registered voters — A body of all persons on the electoral roll of a village within a Gram Panchayat's area.