30 October 2026
The Centre has extended the customs duty exemption on cotton imports by two months. The Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance issued Notification No. 35/2026-Customs, dated 30 October 2026, for this. The earlier exemption was to end on 31 October 2026 and will now run to 31 December 2026. The Ministry of Textiles announced the extension. It says the step is meant to improve cotton availability for domestic textile manufacturers and to meet cotton-specific requirements of the industry. The ministry expects it to ease cost pressure, help micro, small and medium enterprises, and support value addition along the textile and apparel chain. Cotton is the main raw material for a large part of India's spinning and garment industry.
Notification:
No. 35/2026-Customs
New end date:
31 December 2026
Extension:
two months
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the instrument and the ministry: Notification No. 35/2026-Customs of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, extending the cotton import duty exemption to 31 December 2026.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
MSME Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises — The small industry category the government supports through a dedicated ministry.
31 October 2026
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah flagged off the Ekta Daud, or Unity Run, in New Delhi. It was held on National Unity Day, which is observed on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This year the country marked his 151st birth anniversary. Shah also administered the unity pledge to citizens at the event. He said the government has set a target of making the country fully drug-free by 31 December 2029, and called it the first stage of a developed India. The Prime Minister was to take the salute at a parade of police forces from across the country at the Statue of Unity site in Gujarat. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai were among those present.
Anniversary:
151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Drug-free target:
31 December 2029
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the observance and its anchor: Rashtriya Ekta Diwas falls on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary, and the Statue of Unity stands in Gujarat.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Statue of Unity Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat — The tallest statue in India, built on the Narmada in Gujarat.
30 October 2026
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj held a national workshop in New Delhi on the People's Plan Campaign, also called Jan Yojana Abhiyan. Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh addressed more than 400 participants from across the country. The campaign's handbook for 2026-27 was released in English and Hindi. The ministry has run the campaign since 2018 under the theme Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas, and this year's round began on 2 October 2026. It supports the preparation of Gram, Block and District Panchayat Development Plans, localises the Sustainable Development Goals and brings schemes and resources together. The minister noted that the Sixteenth Finance Commission has recommended grants of Rs 4,35,236 crore for 2026-31 to Panchayati Raj institutions and rural local bodies in all 28 States, and that plans must carry an own-source revenue component because performance grants are linked to revenue generation. The ministry also signed a memorandum of understanding with Convergence Energy Services Limited to set up electric vehicle charging and battery swapping stations on panchayat land.
Finance Commission grant:
Rs 4,35,236 crore for 2026-31
Theme:
Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas
Participants:
more than 400
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the campaign and its ministry: the People's Plan Campaign has run under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj since 2018 with the theme Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas, and the Sixteenth Finance Commission grant figure for rural local bodies.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GPDP Gram Panchayat Development Plan — The annual plan a gram panchayat prepares for its own area.
OSR Own Source Revenue — Money a local body raises on its own, such as taxes and fees.
CESL Convergence Energy Services Limited — A subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited that runs clean energy projects.
31 October 2026
The Indian Institute of Public Administration held its 72nd Annual General Meeting in the presence of the Vice-President, who is the institute's President. Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh, who chairs the institute's Executive Council, addressed the meeting. The institute was set up in 1954 and now has 11,611 members, with growing participation from young professionals and recent graduates. As on 31 March 2026 it had 26 regional branches and 43 local branches. In 2025-26 it completed 45 research projects and had 13 studies under way. It also held 130 training programmes and related academic activities, including 35 programmes for State government officials at State, district and local levels. The institute's work is aimed at building capacity in public administration across the country.
Set up:
1954
Members:
11,611
Branches:
26 regional and 43 local
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the body itself: the Indian Institute of Public Administration was set up in 1954 and the Vice-President of India is its President.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IIPA Indian Institute of Public Administration — A New Delhi body set up in 1954 for research and training in public administration.
30 October 2026
Banks have shaved a little off some loan and deposit rates, going by the Reserve Bank of India's monthly release on these rates. Regional rural banks and small finance banks are kept out of this set of figures. For October 2026 the median one-year MCLR of scheduled commercial banks works out to 8.55 per cent; a month before, the same figure stood at 8.61 per cent. Fresh rupee loans in September carried a weighted average lending rate of 8.51 per cent, after 8.61 per cent in August. Loans already on the books showed no movement at all: that rate stayed at 8.96 per cent. Depositors saw small cuts too. Term deposits already held earned a weighted average of 6.55 per cent, a shade below August's 6.56 per cent, while new term deposits earned 5.61 per cent against 5.67 per cent. Across sectors, lending rates did not all shift in the same direction.
One-year median MCLR:
8.55 per cent
WALR on fresh rupee loans:
8.51 per cent
WADTDR on fresh term deposits:
5.61 per cent
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the rate concepts the central bank tracks: MCLR, the weighted average lending rate and the weighted average domestic term deposit rate, with the latest one-year median MCLR figure.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
MCLR Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate — The internal benchmark a bank uses to price many of its loans.
WADTDR Weighted Average Domestic Term Deposit Rate — The average interest banks pay on rupee term deposits, weighted by amount.
30 October 2026
Bank credit is expanding far faster than it was a year ago, going by the Reserve Bank of India's September 2026 release on where bank credit goes. Take the fortnight that closed on 30 September 2026. Non-food bank credit stood 19.1 per cent above its level a year before, where the comparable figure twelve months earlier had been only 11.2 per cent. Services borrowed most heavily of all, growing 28.3 per cent against 9.9 per cent. Farm and allied lending rose 19.5 per cent, where a year earlier the rise had been 8.9 per cent. Industry matched that 19.5 per cent, against 7.7 per cent. Personal loans grew 17.3 per cent, after 11.5 per cent. The sector-wise numbers are drawn from 41 banks the central bank selects, and roughly 95 per cent of all non-food credit of scheduled commercial banks sits with them.
Non-food credit growth:
19.1 per cent
Services credit growth:
28.3 per cent
Banks covered:
41 select scheduled commercial banks, about 95 per cent of non-food credit
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is the data series and its publisher: the Reserve Bank's sectoral deployment of bank credit, with services as the fastest growing sector in this round.
UPSCBank
In plain words
Non-food credit Bank credit other than loans for food procurement — All bank lending except advances to agencies that buy food grain for the government.
Background
This background goes with the monthly review of Union government accounts that the Centre publishes every month.
The Controller General of Accounts sits in the Department of Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance.
The office is the Principal Accounting Adviser to the Government of India.
Its job is to set up and keep a technically sound management accounting system for the Union.
It puts together the monthly and annual analysis of the Centre's expenditure, revenues, borrowings and fiscal indicators.
The Annual Appropriation Accounts (Civil) and the Union Finance Accounts are placed before Parliament under Article 150 of the Constitution.
A report called 'Accounts at a Glance' goes to Members of Parliament along with those documents.
The organisation runs the Civil Accounts Organisation and the Indian Civil Accounts Service.
Sits in:
Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance
Role:
Principal Accounting Adviser to the Government of India
Accounts laid before Parliament under:
Article 150 of the Constitution
Why it matters for exams: Article 150 and the place of the Controller General of Accounts in the Ministry of Finance are standard Polity and Economy facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
CGA Controller General of Accounts — The Centre's principal accounting authority, in the Department of Expenditure.
Background
This background goes with the Centre's schemes for senior citizens, of which Ayushman Vay Vandana is the health arm.
Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana, shortened to AVYAY, was launched in 2021.
It took in and widened the earlier National Action Plan for Senior Citizens, bringing several elderly welfare programmes under one umbrella scheme.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the nodal ministry.
The scheme covers shelter, food, healthcare and recreation, and supports active and productive ageing by building the capacity of governments, non-governmental organisations, local bodies and communities.
Its guiding ideas are 'Ageing with Dignity' and 'Ageing at Place', the second of which lets older people stay on in their own homes with home modifications and community support.
Census 2011 counted 10.38 crore senior citizens aged 60 and above, 5.11 crore men and 5.27 crore women, and the elderly population is projected to reach 23 crore by 2036.
For the quarter ending 30 September 2026 the Government released grant-in-aid of Rs 77.98 crore to 755 projects under the Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens.
Launched:
2021
Nodal ministry:
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Senior citizens, Census 2011:
10.38 crore
Projected elderly population by 2036:
23 crore
Why it matters for exams: AVYAY, its nodal ministry and the scheme it replaced are standard schemes questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
AVYAY Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana — The Centre's umbrella scheme for the welfare of senior citizens, launched in 2021.
LASI Longitudinal Ageing Study in India — A large survey of the health and wellbeing of older people in India.