15 October 2026
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at its meeting held on 14/10/2026, approved the strategic restructuring of IDBI Bank Ltd. An aggregate 60.72 per cent stake will be sold, made up of 30.48 per cent from the Government of India and 30.24 per cent from LIC. The strategic buyer is 10955230 Canada Inc., whose parent entity is Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. The purchase consideration is Rs.52,878.0806181 Crores. After the sale the Government of India retains 15 per cent and LIC retains 19 per cent. The winning best offer bid was Rs.81 per share, above the benchmark of Rs.75.99 per share, which was the average of two independent valuations.
Stake sold:
60.72%
Government share sold:
30.48%
LIC share sold:
30.24%
Purchase consideration:
Rs.52,878.0806181 Crores
Price per share:
Rs.81
Why it matters for exams: The largest bank disinvestment decision of the year, with exact stake percentages and residual holdings that are easy to frame as a question.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
CCEA Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs — The Union Cabinet committee that clears major economic and investment decisions.
LIC Life Insurance Corporation of India — The state-owned insurer that had earlier infused capital into IDBI Bank.
15 October 2026
The Department of Science and Technology has included advanced chemicals, petrochemicals and material technologies as an additional technology area eligible for funding under the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme. The inclusion takes effect from 8 October 2026. The decision followed a proposal from the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. The RDI Scheme was launched in November 2025 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore. Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and Health and Family Welfare, welcomed the decision. The stated aims are to strengthen domestic manufacturing, reduce dependence on imported technologies and high-value materials, and support indigenous technology development.
Scheme corpus:
Rs 1 lakh crore
Scheme launched:
November 2025
Inclusion effective from:
8 October 2026
Why it matters for exams: The RDI Scheme's corpus and the date from which the new technology area becomes eligible are both precise, examinable facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
DST Department of Science and Technology — The Union department that administers the RDI Scheme.
15 October 2026
The Ministry of Law and Justice has mobilized nineteen National Law Universities from sixteen states for a nationwide, research-based mission on criminal case backlogs. The effort targets the top 100 judicial districts with high litigation pendency. Over 5.8 crore cases are pending nationwide, and the 100 identified districts account for over half of all district-court pendency. Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, chaired the meeting, which was held by video conference. The Secretary of the Department of Justice, the Director General (Awards), the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development and the Director General of the National Crime Records Bureau attended in person.
Universities involved:
19 from 16 states
Districts targeted:
Top 100 judicial districts
Cases pending nationwide:
Over 5.8 crore
Why it matters for exams: The pendency figure and the number of universities and districts are the kind of precise numbers polity papers use.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NCRB National Crime Records Bureau — The body that compiles India's crime statistics.
BPR&D Bureau of Police Research and Development — The Union body for police research, training and modernisation.
15 October 2026
India and Brunei Darussalam held the third meeting of their Joint Trade Committee. It was co-chaired by Shri Amit Verma, Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and by Dr. May Fa'ezah Ahmad Ariffin, Permanent Secretary (Economy and Trade) in Brunei Darussalam's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The two sides discussed expanding bilateral trade, market access priorities and mechanisms for business-to-business exchanges. They took up facilitating Indian exports of agricultural and animal products to Brunei to support food security, and identified pharmaceuticals, healthcare and energy as key areas for cooperation, including regulatory collaboration and procurement. Tourism, trade fairs and exhibitions, trade promotion events and reciprocal business delegations were also discussed. The next Joint Trade Committee meeting will be held in Brunei Darussalam.
Meeting:
Third Joint Trade Committee
Next venue:
Brunei Darussalam
Why it matters for exams: India-ASEAN bilateral mechanisms and the ordinal number of such meetings are standard objective questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
JTC Joint Trade Committee — A bilateral mechanism of officials that reviews trade and economic cooperation.
15 October 2026
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the New, Emerging and Strategic Technologies Division of the Ministry of External Affairs jointly launched the inaugural edition of the MEA-CSIR Tech Familiarization Programme on 14 October 2026. Thirty-three ambassadors and senior embassy officials from 29 countries took part. The programme was held at two CSIR laboratories in New Delhi, the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute and the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. At CSIR-CRRI the visitors saw a driving simulator, a cyclic load test facility, a steel slag laboratory, a 3D bio-binder model and drones, with a live demonstration of Ecofix, a steel slag-based instant pothole repair mix. At CSIR-IGIB they were shown facilities for genome sequencing, biosafety, zebrafish research, biobanking and Good Manufacturing Practice. Dr. Rama Swami Bansal, Head of CSIR's International S&T Affairs Directorate, gave an overview of CSIR's capabilities and Dr. Sadre Alam, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, explained the programme's purpose.
Participants:
33 ambassadors and senior embassy officials
Countries represented:
29
Laboratories visited:
CSIR-CRRI and CSIR-IGIB
Why it matters for exams: Science diplomacy with the Global South, the CSIR laboratories involved and the Ecofix demonstration are all quotable specifics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CSIR Council of Scientific and Industrial Research — India's largest publicly funded chain of research laboratories.
NEST New, Emerging and Strategic Technologies Division — The Ministry of External Affairs division that handles technology diplomacy.
15 October 2026
The Government of India has constituted a committee to examine issues relating to sugarcane farmers and the sugar sector, announced in a release of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Prof. Ramesh Chand, former Member of NITI Aayog, is the chairman. The members are the Agriculture Commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Joint Secretary (Sugar) in the Department of Food and Public Distribution, and the Joint Secretary (Legal Metrology) in the Department of Consumer Affairs. The terms of reference include examining farmers' demand for higher remunerative returns, the demand to revise the ex-mill Minimum Selling Price of sugar, the existing mechanisms for testing and reporting sugar recovery, sugarcane weighment practices at mills including calibration and verification, and the weight deductions applied to mechanically harvested sugarcane and their effect on cane prices paid to farmers. The committee may consult farmers' representatives, sugar mill associations, State Governments and other experts, and is to submit findings and recommendations to the competent authority as early as possible.
Chairman:
Prof. Ramesh Chand, former Member, NITI Aayog
Ministry issuing the release:
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Members:
3 officials
Why it matters for exams: Committee chairmanships and the exact terms of reference on cane pricing and the ex-mill Minimum Selling Price are frequently asked.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
MSP of sugar Minimum Selling Price of sugar — The floor price at which mills may sell sugar at the factory gate.
Legal Metrology Legal Metrology — The branch of government that regulates weights and measures.
15 October 2026
The Central Electricity Authority held the first day of a two-day International Conference cum Exhibition titled Making Indian Power Sector AI Enabled at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, on 14 October 2026. Shri Ghanshyam Prasad, Chairperson of the CEA, set the context for the conference. The event saw the launch of the CEA's Vidhyut Dwar Portal, the release of the CEA Manual on Transmission Planning Criteria, 2026, and the distribution of the CEA Employee Awards. The CEA has formed a team of 54 artificial intelligence enthusiasts and brand ambassadors to take AI forward across the power sector, and power utilities may also set up dedicated AI teams. Six parallel thematic discussions were held on the first day.
Portal launched:
Vidhyut Dwar Portal
AI brand ambassadors:
54
Venue:
Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi
Manual released:
CEA Manual on Transmission Planning Criteria, 2026
Why it matters for exams: A new government portal, a dated manual and a precise headcount are all easy objective-question material.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CEA Central Electricity Authority — The technical body that advises the Union government on power system planning.
15 October 2026
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh spoke at the launch of IIT Kanpur's 'Greater Than Us' fundraising campaign in New Delhi on 14 October 2026. The campaign has a target of US$1 billion by March 2029, and Rs 4,155 crore has already been committed, nearly half the goal. He said close defence-academia-industry collaboration is key to accelerating the development and adoption of indigenous technology amid the evolving nature of warfare. He noted that the IIT ecosystem has supported over 6,000 start-ups, 56 unicorns and nearly 5,000 patents, and referred to the Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme. Prof Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, and Shri Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Advisor to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, were present. The release refers to IIT Kanpur's existing DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence and its C3i Cybersecurity Technology Innovation Hub. A School of Defence Technologies at the institute is a proposal, which he welcomed, and the proposal for a National Military Drone Technology Hub at IIT Kanpur in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence has made significant progress with its approval process nearing completion.
Campaign target:
US$1 billion by March 2029
Already committed:
Rs 4,155 crore
Start-ups supported:
Over 6,000
Unicorns:
56
Why it matters for exams: The campaign target, the amount already committed and the start-up and unicorn figures are all precise numbers from an official release.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Raksha Mantri Raksha Mantri — The Hindi title of India's Defence Minister.
Unicorn Unicorn — A privately held start-up valued at over one billion dollars.
Background
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standard Body of India, established under the BIS Act 2016.
It was established for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods.
Through standardization, certification and testing, BIS provides safe, reliable quality goods, minimizes health hazards to consumers, promotes exports and import substitution, and controls the proliferation of varieties.
BIS has its Headquarters at New Delhi.
Its 5 Regional Offices are at Kolkata (Eastern), Chennai (Southern), Mumbai (Western), Chandigarh (Northern) and Delhi (Central).
Branch Offices, including one at Kochi, offer certification services to industry and serve as a link between State Governments, industries, technical institutions and consumer organizations.
Established under:
BIS Act 2016
Headquarters:
New Delhi
Regional Offices:
5
Southern Regional Office:
Chennai
Branch Office in Kerala:
Kochi
Why it matters for exams: BIS's statutory basis, its role in standards and certification, and its regional structure are common questions on economic institutions in UPSC and Kerala PSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Standardization Setting common quality norms — One of the activities for whose harmonious development BIS was established.
Marking Placing a standards mark on goods — One of the activities BIS was established to develop, along with quality certification.
Branch Office Local office under a Regional Office — BIS Branch Offices, including Kochi, offer certification services to industry.
Background
The National Tiger Conservation Authority has been constituted under section 38L(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, created through the enabling provisions added when the Act was amended in 2006. Under section 38L the Authority consists of the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests as Chairperson, the Minister of State in that Ministry as Vice-Chairperson, three members of Parliament of whom two are elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States, eight experts or professionals in wildlife conservation and the welfare of people living in tiger reserves of whom at least two must be from the field of tribal development, the Secretary and the Director General of Forests of the Ministry, the Director of Wild Life Preservation, six Chief Wild Life Wardens from tiger reserve States in rotation for three years, officials of the Ministries of Law and Justice, Tribal Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment and Panchayati Raj, the Chairpersons of the National Commissions for the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes, and an Inspector-General of Forests rank officer as Member-Secretary. The Authority draws its powers from section 38O(1) of the Act. These include approving the tiger conservation plan prepared by a State Government, disallowing ecologically unsustainable land use such as mining and industry inside tiger reserves, and laying down normative standards for tourism in core and buffer areas. Under section 38O(2) the Authority may issue directions in writing to any person, officer or authority for the protection of tigers or tiger reserves, and the direction is binding. Project Tiger itself is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry that funds tiger range States for in-situ conservation in designated tiger reserves. The Authority also conducts the country-level assessment of the status of tigers, co-predators, prey and habitat once in four years.
Enabling provision:
Section 38L(1), Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
Chairperson:
Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests
Members of Parliament:
Three (two from the House of the People, one from the Council of States)
Experts or professionals:
Eight, at least two from tribal development
Why it matters for exams: The statutory basis of the tiger authority, the section numbers behind it and its composition are standard questions in polity and environment sections alike.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NTCA National Tiger Conservation Authority — The statutory authority for tiger conservation under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
Centrally Sponsored Scheme Centrally Sponsored Scheme — A scheme run by States with funding support from the Union Government.
Core and buffer area Core and buffer area — The critical tiger habitat and the surrounding zone of a tiger reserve.
Background
Aditya-L1 is the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft is placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth. A satellite in a halo orbit around L1 can view the Sun continuously without any occultation or eclipse, which allows solar activity and its effect on space weather to be observed in real time. The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, the chromosphere and the corona using electromagnetic, particle and magnetic field detectors. Four payloads view the Sun directly: the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) for coronal imaging and spectroscopy, the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) for photospheric and chromospheric imaging, the Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS). Three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at L1: the Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), the Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) and advanced tri-axial high resolution digital magnetometers. The science objectives include the problem of coronal heating, the physics of partially ionised plasma, the initiation of coronal mass ejections and flares, the diagnostics of coronal plasma temperature, velocity and density, magnetic field measurements in the solar corona and the drivers of space weather. ISRO launched the observatory on PSLV-C57 and the spacecraft was inserted into its halo orbit around L1 on 6 January 2024.
Orbit:
Halo orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 (L1)
Distance of L1 from the Earth:
About 1.5 million km
Payloads:
Seven: four remote sensing, three in-situ
Launch vehicle:
PSLV-C57
Why it matters for exams: The L1 point, the payload split between remote sensing and in-situ instruments and the mission's launch vehicle are the details examiners pick from India's solar mission.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
L1 Lagrange point 1 — A point between the Sun and the Earth where the gravitational pull of the two bodies lets a spacecraft hold its position.
CME Coronal Mass Ejection — A large release of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun's corona.
VELC Visible Emission Line Coronagraph — The primary payload that images and takes the spectrum of the solar corona.
Background
The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) turns subsidised foodgrains from a welfare benefit into a legal entitlement. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which the Act treats as the poorest of the poor, are legally entitled to receive 35 kg of foodgrains per family per month. Priority households are entitled to 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month. The Act provides for coverage of up to 75 per cent of the rural population and up to 50 per cent of the urban population for highly subsidised foodgrains through the Targeted Public Distribution System. On the population figures of Census 2011, that coverage works out to about 81.35 crore persons. The Government has stated that there is no change in the entitlement of foodgrains of beneficiaries under the Act, and that no proposal for universalisation of the coverage is under consideration. The identification of eligible households within the coverage limits is done by the State Governments and Union Territory administrations.
Antyodaya household entitlement:
35 kg of foodgrains per family per month
Priority household entitlement:
5 kg of foodgrains per person per month
Coverage:
Up to 75% of the rural and up to 50% of the urban population
Persons covered:
About 81.35 crore at Census 2011
Why it matters for exams: The two entitlement figures and the coverage ceilings of the food security law are among the most frequently asked scheme facts in both State and central examinations.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
NFSA National Food Security Act — The law that makes subsidised foodgrains a legal entitlement for identified households.
AAY Antyodaya Anna Yojana — The category of the poorest households, entitled to a fixed quantity per family.
TPDS Targeted Public Distribution System — The ration shop network through which the entitlement is delivered.