17 October 2026
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has published a draft amendment to the Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020. The draft is titled the Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Amendment Regulations, 2026. It proposes that sucrose and fructose shall not be added to products intended for infants up to six months of age. The draft was published in the Gazette of India on 16 October 2026. Under the existing rules lactose and glucose polymers are the preferred carbohydrate sources, and sucrose or fructose may be added within set limits only where needed as a carbohydrate source. The Health Ministry says the change addresses early sugar exposure and its link to childhood obesity, and supports exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Stakeholders have 60 days from the date gazette copies are made available to the public to file objections and suggestions.
Regulations amended:
Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020
Age limit covered:
Up to six months
Consultation period:
60 days
Why it matters for exams: Regulatory changes by FSSAI under the Food Safety and Standards Act are standard material for health and governance questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
FSSAI Food Safety and Standards Authority of India — The statutory regulator for food standards in India, set up under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
17 October 2026
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed preparations for the Khet Bachao Abhiyan in a virtual meeting with agriculture ministers of eleven states on 17 October 2026. The campaign will run from 22 October to 30 November 2026, and states may set their own activity dates to suit local needs. The eleven states are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Assam, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Maharashtra. Minister of State Bhagirath Choudhary, Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra and ICAR Director General Dr M L Jat attended. The campaign covers crop residue management, integrated pest management, soil health, climate-resilient farming, natural farming, balanced fertiliser use, water conservation, crop diversification and the use of fallow land after paddy harvest. Targets include 50 lakh participants each for ATMA and ICAR, 4,150 teams combining Krishi Vigyan Kendras and ATMAs, over 12,000 scientists and officials, and about 1.5 lakh meetings in all. The Minister asked district collectors to issue directions and appoint nodal officers at state and district level.
Campaign period:
22 October to 30 November 2026
States covered:
11
KVK-ATMA teams:
4,150 teams
Meetings planned:
About 1.5 lakh
Why it matters for exams: Centrally driven agricultural extension campaigns, their dates and their delivery machinery such as ATMA and KVKs are standard exam material.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ATMA Agricultural Technology Management Agency — The district-level body that delivers agricultural extension services under a centrally sponsored scheme.
KVK Krishi Vigyan Kendra — Farm science centres run under ICAR that demonstrate technology to farmers at district level.
17 October 2026
The Ministry of Finance issued a clarification on 17 October 2026 on the legislative history of the government's shareholding in IDBI Bank. It said that during the 2003 Union Budget discussion and the parliamentary debate on the Industrial Development Bank of India (Repeal) Act, 2003, an amendment was moved to limit any reduction in the government's stake, but it was rejected and never became part of the enacted law. The release cited All India IDBI Officers Association v. Union of India and Others, in which the Delhi High Court dismissed the writ petition on 17 December 2018. In paragraphs 41 and 42 the High Court held that statements made in Parliament cannot stop the government from reducing or fully ending its stake, that the doctrine of promissory estoppel did not fully apply, and that the Act's language is unambiguous with no implied restriction. The Ministry noted that the policy was restated in the Budget 2016-17 speech, which spoke of considering a reduction of the government's stake below 50 per cent, and in the Budget 2021-22 speech, which listed strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank among transactions to be completed in 2021-22.
Statute cited:
Industrial Development Bank of India (Repeal) Act, 2003
High Court order date:
17 December 2018
Stake threshold discussed:
Below 50 per cent
Why it matters for exams: The item links disinvestment policy, the repeal of a development finance statute and the doctrine of promissory estoppel in one place.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Promissory estoppel Doctrine of promissory estoppel — A rule that can hold a party to a promise another has acted upon, applied to the state only within limits.
17 October 2026
A government feature released on 17 October 2026 sets out the infrastructure build-out in Jammu and Kashmir. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link was inaugurated in June 2025 at a cost of Rs 43,780 crore, spanning 272 km with 36 tunnels covering 119 km and 943 bridges. The Chenab Rail Bridge in Reasi, the world's highest rail arch bridge, is 1,315 m long with a 467 m arch and stands 359 m above the riverbed. The Anji Khad Bridge in Reasi is India's first cable-stayed rail bridge, with a 473.25 m main span supported by a 193 m inverted-Y tower. The T50 tunnel between Khari and Sumber, 12.77 km long, opened in 2024 and is described as India's longest transport tunnel. The Sonamarg or Z-Morh tunnel, 6.4 km long with a parallel escape tunnel, opened in January 2025 at a cost of over Rs 2,700 crore. The Zojila tunnel on NH-1 is 13.153 km long and costs Rs 6,808 crore; its two bores met in June 2026. Expansion of the Srinagar civil enclave was approved in February 2026 at Rs 1,677 crore for a 71,500 sq m terminal handling 10 million passengers a year. Under PMGSY-IV, 110 road projects of 598.455 km costing over Rs 1,500 crore were foundation-laid in August 2026.
USBRL cost:
₹43,780 crore
Chenab bridge height above riverbed:
359 m
Zojila tunnel length:
13.153 km
Zojila tunnel cost:
₹6,808 crore
Why it matters for exams: The Chenab bridge, Anji Khad bridge, Z-Morh and Zojila tunnels are among the most frequently asked Indian infrastructure records.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
USBRL Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link — The railway project that connected the Kashmir Valley to the national broad-gauge network.
PMGSY Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana — The central scheme for all-weather rural road connectivity, now in its fourth phase.
17 October 2026
A Supreme Court bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran has held that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every individual under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a), and that it belongs to children as well. The order was passed in Just Rights for Children Alliance and another v. S. Harish and Others, reported as 2026 INSC 1149 and 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 1063. The Court said it would be absurd to deny children the right to access the internet altogether, and that children's safety and freedom are not at odds with each other. It rejected blanket restrictions on children's internet access, describing them as unproven measures of proven disproportionality, and warned that age-verification systems could lead to excessive data collection and surveillance. The Court said age-based safeguards such as parental consent and oversight, a child mode for accounts, private accounts by default, limits on contact from unknown adults and moderation of advertisements and content may still be required for pre-teens, leaving the details to the Union Government. It added that the Union Government may still restrict children's access to content that is inherently harmful, such as adult websites. The Court distinguished Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020), which protected internet-based speech and trade but did not decide whether access itself is a fundamental right, and relied on Pragya Prasun v. Union of India (2025), which recognised a right to digital access under Article 21.
Case:
Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish
Neutral citation:
2026 INSC 1149
Articles relied on:
Article 21 with Article 19(1)(a)
Why it matters for exams: A new fundamental right read into Article 21, with the precedents it builds on, is high-value material for polity and law questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Article 21 Article 21 of the Constitution of India — Guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, into which courts have read many derived rights.
17 October 2026
In Just Rights for Children Alliance and another v. S. Harish and Others, reported as 2026 INSC 1149, a bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice K V Chandran has directed the Union Government to create a database of hash identifiers and URLs of confirmed child sexual exploitation and abuse material. The Court noted that its 2024 directions in the same case had not stopped circulation, because removal by one platform does not lead to automatic removal elsewhere. The database may sit within the existing Sahyog Portal or be a standalone repository, and must hold only hashes and URLs, never the material itself. Software may screen entries first, but at least three trained human analysts must each independently confirm an entry. Intermediaries must report such material to the Special Juvenile Police Unit, local police or the cybercrime portal under Rule 11 of the POCSO Rules, 2020; reporting only to foreign organisations is not enough. Self-detected removals must be reported within two hours, complaint-based removals within two hours of resolution, and database-match removals in consolidated weekly reports. Complaints must be acknowledged within 24 hours with a reference number. The Court also asked that digital safety and age-appropriate education be built into the core curriculum by NCERT and the State SCERTs, and directed the Union to file an affidavit on progress by the next hearing on 10 December 2026.
Human verification required:
At least three trained analysts
Self-detected removal reporting:
Within two hours
Complaint acknowledgement:
Within 24 hours
Next hearing:
10 December 2026
Why it matters for exams: The directions tie the POCSO Rules, the IT Rules and intermediary liability together in one enforceable framework.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CSEAM Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material — The term the Supreme Court prefers over child pornography for such material.
POCSO Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 — The special law on sexual offences against children, with Rules framed in 2020.
17 October 2026
A Supreme Court bench of Justice P S Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe has held that a gift of temple land to the State of Tamil Nadu was void ab initio, in K Ramalingam and Others v. Government of Tamil Nadu and Others, reported as 2026 INSC 1144 and 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 1067. Justice Aradhe wrote the judgment. A temporary trustee of the Nagapalayam Mariamman-Ponnachiamman Temple in Kodumudi village, Erode district had gifted 1 acre 10 cents of temple land to the State on 30 August 2017 for a Taluk Office, and the Madras High Court dismissed a challenge in March 2019 on the view that Section 34 did not expressly prohibit gifts. The Supreme Court held that Section 41(1) of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 applied because the land was inam property granted for the temple's support, and Section 41 bars gifts of such land; a later sanction could not validate it. It held that the State is a custodian and regulator of temple property and not its owner, and that a public-purpose motive does not change that. A gift is not prudent management under Sections 27 and 28 since the institution receives no consideration, and the deed could not be validly registered under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, 1908 as applicable in Tamil Nadu. The High Court judgment was set aside and the deed declared null and void, but the lease was not cancelled because the Taluk Office had already been built with public funds. Rent was enhanced to Rs 31,000 per month retrospective from 8 March 2019, with arrears payable in three months, revision every three years and no fall below that figure. The State must pay Rs 1 lakh in costs to the temple within eight weeks.
Case:
K Ramalingam v. Government of Tamil Nadu
Neutral citation:
2026 INSC 1144
Rent fixed:
Rs 31,000 per month
Costs to temple:
Rs 1 lakh
Why it matters for exams: The judgment states the legal position of the state over religious endowments, a recurring theme in polity and law papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Inam Inam land — Land granted historically, often for the support of a temple or a service, and governed by special rules.
HR&CE Act Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 — The Tamil Nadu law governing administration of Hindu religious institutions and their properties.
16 October 2026
The Reserve Bank of India announced the full auction results for the re-issue of the 6.94% GS 2036, held on 16 October 2026.
The notified amount was Rs 34,000 crore.
Four hundred competitive bids were received, for Rs 94,072.116 crore, and 113 of them were accepted, for Rs 33,960.709 crore.
The cut-off price was Rs 96.91, which works out to a yield to maturity of 7.3955 per cent.
Devolvement on Primary Dealers was NIL, because the bids covered the issue.
In the underwriting auction for the same security the Minimum Underwriting Commitment was Rs 17,010 crore and the Additional Competitive Underwriting accepted was Rs 16,990 crore, taking the total underwritten to Rs 34,000 crore at an ACU commission cut-off rate of 0.38 paise per Rs 100.
Security:
6.94% GS 2036
Notified amount:
Rs 34,000 crore
Cut-off price:
Rs 96.91 (YTM 7.3955%)
Devolvement on Primary Dealers:
NIL
ACU commission cut-off rate:
0.38 paise per Rs 100
Why it matters for exams: A worked example of how the Centre borrows through a dated security auction, and what devolvement on Primary Dealers means when it does not happen.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
GS Government Security — A dated borrowing instrument issued by the Government of India.
Devolvement Devolvement on Primary Dealers — The part of an issue that Primary Dealers must take up themselves when bids fall short of the notified amount.
YTM Yield to Maturity — The annual return an investor earns if the security is held till it matures.