31 October 2026
INS Trishul, deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, made a port call at Souda Bay in Greece. The ship's officers met senior Hellenic Navy officials and officials of the Indian Embassy in Athens. The visit included professional discussions, cross-deck visits and cultural exchanges. The crew was familiarised with the Naval Support Activity at Souda Bay and with the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre, which is based there. A tribute was paid at the Souda Bay War Cemetery. The ship was also opened to the public during the call. Port calls of this kind are used to build operational understanding with partner navies and to show presence in distant waters.
Ship:
INS Trishul
Port of call:
Souda Bay, Greece
Area of deployment:
Mediterranean Sea
Why it matters for exams: The NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre at Souda Bay, Greece, and Indian Navy ship names are repeat questions in defence sections.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NMIOTC NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre — A NATO training centre at Souda Bay that trains crews for maritime interdiction operations.
1 November 2026
The Ministry of Coal has reported that India's coal imports fell by 5.83 per cent in August 2026. Total imports came down to 104.57 MT from 111.05 MT a year earlier, a reduction of 6.48 MT. Imports for the power sector fell 6.39 per cent to 21.32 MT. Coal imported for blending at domestic coal-based plants dropped sharply by 35.23 per cent to 3.00 MT, while imports for imported coal-based plants rose slightly by 0.98 per cent to 18.31 MT. Coking coal imports, used mainly in steel making, fell 4.18 per cent to 27.30 MT. The imported share of total coal consumption came down from 21.20 per cent to 19.30 per cent. The Ministry links the trend to work on First Mile Connectivity, evacuation infrastructure and stock monitoring at thermal plants, done with the Ministry of Railways and Coal India Limited.
Total coal imports, August 2026:
104.57 MT
Fall over a year:
5.83%
Coking coal imports:
27.30 MT
Imported share of consumption:
19.30%
Why it matters for exams: Coal India Limited, coking coal and the Ministry of Coal's import-substitution data are standard economy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
CIL Coal India Limited — The state-owned company that produces most of India's coal, working through subsidiaries.
FMC First Mile Connectivity — Mechanised movement of coal from the pithead to the first loading point.
30 October 2026
The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the premature redemption price for Sovereign Gold Bond 2021-22 Series VII at Rs 14,167 per unit. The bonds were issued on 2 November 2021, and the premature redemption falls due on 2 November 2026. The price is worked out as the simple average of the closing price of gold of 999 purity for the three business days before the redemption date, as published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. For this redemption the three days taken were 28, 29 and 30 October 2026. Sovereign Gold Bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank on behalf of the Government of India. They run for eight years, and investors may exit early from the fifth year on the interest payment dates.
Premature redemption price:
Rs 14,167 per unit
Series:
SGB 2021-22 Series VII
Redemption date:
November 02, 2026
Why it matters for exams: The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, its eight-year tenor and the IBJA 999-purity price used for redemption are frequent banking questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
IBJA India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd — The trade body whose published gold price is used to fix Sovereign Gold Bond redemption values.
30 October 2026
The Reserve Bank of India has released its Scheduled Banks' Statement of Position in India as on October 15, 2026. Deposits other than from banks stood at Rs 28,436,892.20 crore for all scheduled banks and Rs 27,875,909.91 crore for scheduled commercial banks. Bank credit excluding inter-bank advances was Rs 23,254,182.56 crore for all scheduled banks and Rs 22,742,777.30 crore for scheduled commercial banks. Investments at book value were Rs 7,731,962.11 crore for all scheduled banks. The statement is published every fortnight and is the standard source for the aggregate balance sheet of the banking system. Scheduled banks are those listed in the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
Deposits (other than from banks), all scheduled banks:
Rs 28,436,892.20 crore
Bank credit excluding inter-bank advances, all scheduled banks:
Rs 23,254,182.56 crore
As on:
October 15, 2026
Why it matters for exams: The Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, which defines a scheduled bank, is a standard banking question.
UPSCBank
In plain words
Scheduled bank Bank listed in the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 — Such a bank must meet the paid-up capital and conduct conditions the Act lays down.
1 November 2026
The Ministry of Coal has announced that its Star Rating Awards ceremony for coal and lignite mines will be held at Raipur in Chhattisgarh on 2 November. Mines with the highest star ratings for the assessment year 2024-25 will be felicitated. Under the Star Rating Policy for Coal Mines a mine is scored on several counts: how well its day-to-day working is organised, how far it has taken up newer machinery and methods, how safely and healthily it keeps the people who work in it, how carefully it treats the land, air and water around it, whether it is built to last, how it resettles and rebuilds the lives of families moved out for the mine, and what it does for the villages nearby. Ratings run from five stars down to no star and are assigned after assessment and validation by reviewers appointed by the Coal Controller's Organisation. Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy will be the chief guest, with Minister of State Satish Chandra Dubey and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai also taking part.
Venue:
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
Assessment year:
2024-25
Rating scale:
Five stars down to no star
Why it matters for exams: The Star Rating Policy for Coal Mines and the Coal Controller's Organisation that validates the ratings are durable governance facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CCO Coal Controller's Organisation — The subordinate office of the Ministry of Coal that collects coal statistics and validates mine ratings.
31 October 2026
The Supreme Court has set aside the anticipatory bail granted by a High Court to a Karnataka-cadre Indian Police Service officer who was Superintendent of Police in the Lokayukta Police and who faces a corruption case. The appeal was filed by the Karnataka Lokayuktha Police. The Court held that a uniformed officer of Superintendent of Police rank facing a charge of misusing his office cannot claim parity with an ordinary person seeking protection from arrest. It found that the High Court had not weighed prosecution material that needed closer examination before custodial interrogation could be ruled out. The officer has been directed to surrender within three weeks and may move for regular bail before the appropriate forum. The order is reported as 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 1113.
Court:
Supreme Court of India
Appellant:
Karnataka Lokayuktha Police
Time to surrender:
Three weeks
Why it matters for exams: The Lokayukta as a state-level anti-corruption authority, and anticipatory bail as pre-arrest protection, are repeat Polity and law questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Lokayukta State-level anti-corruption ombudsman — A statutory authority that inquires into complaints of corruption against public servants in a state.
Anticipatory bail Pre-arrest bail — An order protecting a person from arrest in a non-bailable case, granted before arrest.
30 October 2026
A division bench of the Gujarat High Court has stayed a single judge order that had quashed a District Magistrate's notification restricting non-vegetarian food on seven public routes and within 500 metres of the Somnath temple. The notification had been issued under Section 33(1)(w) of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951. Justice Nisha M. Thakore held that the provision covers only places of public entertainment and that the phrase eating house had been removed from that definition by a 2018 amendment, so the power could not be used to regulate what a restaurant serves. She also held that the restriction was disproportionate and infringed the right to carry on trade under Article 19(1)(g), and that eating or not displaying such food is not an essential religious practice under Article 25. The State appealed the same evening and the division bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak, stayed the order and kept the notification in force until the next hearing.
Provision used:
Section 33(1)(w), Gujarat Police Act, 1951
Restricted zone:
Seven public routes and 500 metres around the temple
Next hearing:
25 November 2026
Why it matters for exams: Article 19(1)(g) on freedom of trade and Article 25 on essential religious practice, read with a State Police Act power, is a classic law question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
LPA Letters Patent Appeal — An appeal from a single judge of a High Court to a division bench of the same court.
31 October 2026
President Droupadi Murmu marked the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. She paid floral tribute to his portrait at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi and earlier paid tribute at his statue at Sardar Patel Chowk in the capital. Patel's birth anniversary is observed across the country as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, or National Unity Day. He was independent India's first Deputy Prime Minister and first Home Minister, and led the integration of the princely states into the Indian Union. The Statue of Unity in Gujarat, the tallest statue in the world, was built in his memory and the surrounding township is named Ekta Nagar.
Anniversary:
151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Places of tribute:
Rashtrapati Bhavan and Sardar Patel Chowk, New Delhi
Why it matters for exams: Sardar Patel as first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, and the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, are repeat general awareness questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas National Unity Day — The national observance held on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary.
Background
Property was once protected inside Part III of the Constitution, by Article 19(1)(f) and by Article 31. The Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 moved that protection out of the chapter on Fundamental Rights: Article 19(1)(f) was repealed, Article 31(1) was lifted out of Part III, and its substance went into a new Article 300A placed in Chapter IV of Part XII. The new article puts the whole of it in a single sentence: property cannot be taken from a person save by authority of law. What the sentence insists on is law, so a deprivation has to rest on the authority of law and nothing less will do. Because the guarantee no longer sits in Part III, the right to property is not a Fundamental Right any more; it stands instead as a legal right under the Constitution. One practical consequence of the shift is that the quick remedy of Article 32 is no longer open for a breach of it.
Article:
Article 300A
What a deprivation of property needs:
save by authority of law
Amendment that brought it in:
Forty-fourth Amendment
Year of that Act:
1978
Part of the Constitution where it sits:
Part XII
Why it matters for exams: Article 300A is the examiner's standard test of whether a candidate knows property is no longer a fundamental right.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
Background
Article 233 settles who staffs the district judiciary of a State. Appointments of district judges, and their posting and promotion as well, are made by the Governor of the State, who has to consult the High Court that exercises jurisdiction in relation to such State. Clause (2) opens a second door, for a person outside the service of the Union or of the State: eligibility comes only after not less than seven years as an advocate or a pleader, and only if the High Court recommends the appointment. Clause (2) sets a floor and no more, as the Supreme Court has read it. In High Court of Delhi v. Nisha Tomar the Court upheld a 35 year age requirement for the Delhi Higher Judicial Services examination: the Constitution is silent on age, so a High Court may fix one through its own rules on conditions of service. The seven year rule is in the Article because direct recruitment at this level is meant to bring in members of the Bar with enough experience behind them.
Article:
Article 233
Appointing authority:
Governor of the State
Body to be consulted:
High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State
Covered besides appointment:
posting and promotion
Standing required of an outside candidate:
not less than seven years
Whose recommendation such a candidate needs:
recommended by the High Court
Why it matters for exams: Who appoints a district judge, which court has to be consulted, and the seven-year requirement at the Bar are perennial questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
A government backgrounder issued after ISRO launched the NVS-03 navigation satellite on the GSLV-F18 flight from Sriharikota sets out how India's own satellite navigation system is built. NavIC stands for Navigation with Indian Constellation and was earlier called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. It is developed and run by the Indian Space Research Organisation and provides Position, Navigation and Timing services. The constellation was designed with seven satellites, three in geostationary orbit and four in inclined geosynchronous orbit, supported by ground stations working round the clock. Coverage extends over the Indian landmass and about 1,500 km beyond the country's boundary. The legacy signals are L5 and S, and the second-generation NVS series adds the L1 signal. Two services are offered: a Standard Positioning Service open to civilian users and interoperable with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou, and an encrypted Restricted Service for authorised strategic users. The NVS series has five satellites, NVS-01 to NVS-05, and they carry indigenous rubidium atomic clocks.
Full form:
Navigation with Indian Constellation
Earlier name:
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System
Designed constellation:
Seven satellites: three geostationary, four inclined geosynchronous
Coverage beyond boundary:
About 1,500 km
Why it matters for exams: NavIC's full form, its earlier name IRNSS, its seven-satellite design and its two services are repeat science and technology questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SPS Standard Positioning Service — The open NavIC service for civilian users, interoperable with other global navigation systems.
PNT Position, Navigation and Timing — The three services a satellite navigation system provides to users.