31 October 2026
The Prime Minister has cleared a north high-speed rail corridor that is to run from Delhi all the way to Guwahati. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw set out the route at Varanasi, naming Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna and Siliguri before the Assam capital. He said a passenger would cover Delhi to Agra in 59 minutes and Delhi to Lucknow in 2 hours and 12 minutes. The Delhi to Kanpur leg was put at 1 hour and 45 minutes, and Lucknow to Varanasi at 1 hour and 21 minutes. Varanasi back to Delhi was given as 3 hours and 35 minutes. The Minister added that the work, from pillar to girder, would be done in India by Indian welders and youth.
Delhi to Agra:
59 minutes
Delhi to Lucknow:
2 hours and 12 minutes
Eastern end:
Guwahati
Why it matters for exams: Fixes the Delhi-Guwahati north high-speed rail corridor, its nine named stops and the Ministry of Railways under Ashwini Vaishnaw as the body behind it.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NHSRCL National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited — The public company that builds India's high-speed rail lines.
31 October 2026
The Indian Space Research Organisation has completed the first orbit-raising burn of its navigation satellite NVS-03. The spacecraft was placed in an injection orbit of 170.3 km by 38,080 km by a GSLV launch late on the previous evening. The first burn of the Liquid Apogee Motor lasted 2,174.8 seconds and lifted the orbit to an estimated 5,477.6 km by 37,833.4 km. The agency said satellite health is normal and that further burns are planned to reach geosynchronous orbit at the 111.75 degrees East slot. NVS-03 is the third satellite of the second-generation navigation series that keeps the IRNSS or NavIC service running. It carries an indigenous atomic clock along with procured clocks and transmits in the L1, L5 and S bands. The service covers the Indian land mass and a region of about 1,500 km beyond India's boundary.
Injection orbit:
170.3 km x 38,080 km
First burn duration:
2,174.8 seconds
Target slot:
111.75 degrees East
Why it matters for exams: Fixes NVS-03 as the third second-generation NavIC satellite, its 111.75 degrees East geosynchronous slot, its L1, L5 and S band signals and the indigenous atomic clock on board.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NavIC Navigation with Indian Constellation — India's own regional satellite navigation system, also called IRNSS.
LAM Liquid Apogee Motor — The onboard engine that raises a satellite's orbit after launch.
1 November 2026
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will open the Conference of Chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees of the Parliament of India and of State and Union Territory legislatures at Thiruvananthapuram, the Press Information Bureau said. The two-day meeting will take up the theme of audit, accountability and good governance and the evolving role of the Public Accounts Committee. K. C. Venugopal, Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, will give the welcome address at the inaugural session. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh will also address that session, along with the Speaker and the Public Accounts Committee Chairperson of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The release said the conference is meant for sharing experience and practice on legislative oversight of public expenditure. Public Accounts Committees examine whether public funds have been used as the legislature intended. The Lok Sabha Speaker will deliver the valedictory address when the conference closes.
Venue:
Thiruvananthapuram
Theme:
Audit, Accountability and Good Governance - The Evolving Role of the PAC
Duration:
two days
Why it matters for exams: Names the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and its Chairperson K. C. Venugopal, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and the conference theme on legislative oversight of public expenditure.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
PAC Public Accounts Committee — A parliamentary committee that examines the accounts of government spending.
1 November 2026
The Central Industrial Security Force has moved its supervisory structure from a territorial command model to a functional sector model, with the concurrence of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Under the old arrangement one Sector Headquarters looked after more than 50 different units, from coal mines to power plants and ports, across several ministries. Supervision is now organised by the type of installation being guarded. The new commands are Power-I at New Delhi and Power-II at Kolkata, a Coal Sector at Ranchi, a Steel Sector at Bhilai, a Petroleum and Natural Gas Sector at Guwahati, West Coast Port at Mumbai and East Coast Port at Chennai, and a Government Buildings, Museums and Monuments with Mass Rapid Transit System Sector at New Delhi. These join the Aviation Sectors and the sector for the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Space. The force said the shift should make standard operating procedures, access control and Quick Reaction Team deployment more responsive. It linked the change to threats from drones, precision weapons, cyber attacks and sabotage, where even a brief interruption at an installation can hurt.
Coal Sector headquarters:
Ranchi
Steel Sector headquarters:
Bhilai
Petroleum and Natural Gas Sector:
Guwahati
Why it matters for exams: Names the CISF, the Ministry of Home Affairs as the approving authority, and the new functional sector commands with their headquarters such as Coal at Ranchi and Steel at Bhilai.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CISF Central Industrial Security Force — A central armed police force that guards industrial and other critical installations.
31 October 2026
A Vande Bharat Sleeper Express has been flagged off between Varanasi and New Delhi, giving the route an overnight service that covers the distance in under ten hours. The Railway Ministry said the train will call at Prayagraj, Kanpur Central, Aligarh and Ghaziabad on the way to the national capital. It is to leave Varanasi at 8.50 pm and reach New Delhi at 6.10 am, and leave New Delhi at 9.40 pm to reach Varanasi at 7.10 am. Against the existing Shiv Ganga Express, the new train cuts 55 minutes from the Varanasi to New Delhi run and 35 minutes in the other direction. The service will run six days a week, resting on Fridays from Varanasi and Saturdays from New Delhi. Officials said the evening departure lets passengers reach the next morning and use their time better. The train is aimed at pilgrims, tourists, students and working people who move between eastern Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region.
Route:
Varanasi to New Delhi
Days of operation:
six days a week
Time saved towards New Delhi:
55 minutes
Why it matters for exams: Names the Vande Bharat Sleeper Express on the Varanasi to New Delhi route, its four intermediate halts and the Shiv Ganga Express it is compared with.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NCR National Capital Region — The planning region around Delhi that the new train serves.
Background
The Archaeological Survey of India is the country's principal organisation for archaeological research and for the protection of ancient monuments and sites of national importance. It was set up in 1861 and works under the Ministry of Culture. Its powers come from the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, usually shortened to AMASR. Under that Act it safeguards 3,686 centrally protected monuments. The work is spread over about 38 Circles, and each Circle is headed by a Superintending Archaeologist who handles conservation, site management and inspections in that area. Its mandate also covers structural and chemical conservation, exploration and excavation, epigraphy and the running of site museums. The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, set up in 2007 and run under the Survey, builds a national database of built heritage and antiquities. Article 49 of the Constitution places on the State the duty of protecting monuments of national importance, and the Seventh Schedule puts monuments of national importance on the Union List as Entry 67.
Centrally protected monuments:
3,686
Circles:
about 38
Parent ministry:
Ministry of Culture
Why it matters for exams: The AMASR Act, the parent ministry, the Circle system and Article 49 are standing Polity and Culture questions in Kerala PSC and UPSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
AMASR Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 — The central law under which monuments of national importance are protected.
Circle Regional administrative unit of the Archaeological Survey of India — Each Circle looks after conservation and site management in its own area.
Epigraphy The study of inscriptions — Reading and recording writing cut into stone, copper plates and other surfaces.
Background
Financial inclusion and development is one of the stated roles of the Reserve Bank of India. Under it the central bank frames policy so that credit flows to the fields it calls priority sectors, and treats priority sector lending as a way for banks to reach business among people left outside the formal system. The Reserve Bank also sets out a National Strategy for Financial Inclusion and a National Strategy for Financial Education, which lay down the aims for the whole financial sector. The first of those two can be accessed in 19 other languages, Malayalam among them. Credit for micro, small and medium enterprises, for self help groups, for borrowers of the SC/ST category and for minority communities is handled under this role. So is credit for agriculture and allied activities, together with relief for borrowers in areas hit by a natural calamity. The institutional arrangement is the Lead Bank Scheme, which works through State Level Bankers’ Committees, District Consultative Committees, District Level Review Committees and Block Level Bankers’ Committees.
Institutional arrangement:
Lead Bank Scheme
State level forum:
State Level Bankers’ Committee
Strategy documents:
National Strategy for Financial Inclusion and National Strategy for Financial Education
Why it matters for exams: The Lead Bank Scheme and its committees, and the name of the national financial inclusion strategy, come up in Kerala PSC and bank examinations.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
Priority sector lending PSL — Bank credit the Reserve Bank requires to flow to fields such as agriculture and small industry.
SLBC State Level Bankers’ Committee — The State level forum of banks under the Lead Bank Scheme.
Background
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme gives every rural household at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year. The work offered is unskilled manual work, and it is open to any adult member of the household who volunteers for it. The scheme is meant as a fall-back for a rural household when no better work is available. It is demand driven, so the number of registered workers moves up and down from one year to the next. Under Para 2 of Schedule II of the Act, a Gram Panchayat must make the enquiry it thinks fit and then issue a job card within fifteen days of the application. The Ministry of Rural Development asks all States and UTs to widen demand registration so that no demand for work goes unrecorded. Plans under the scheme are prepared with people taking part and are approved in the Gram Sabha, and a Rozgar Diwas is held to spread word about what the scheme offers.
Guaranteed days a year:
At least 100
Time limit for a job card:
Fifteen days
Nodal ministry:
Ministry of Rural Development
Why it matters for exams: The hundred-day guarantee, the fifteen-day job card limit, the issuing authority and the nodal ministry are asked in almost every rural development question set.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Job card Entitlement card under the rural employment guarantee scheme — The card a household must hold before it can demand work under the scheme.
Rozgar Diwas Employment day — A day held at village level to tell people what the scheme offers.
Background
The National Food Security Act gives a legal entitlement to highly subsidised foodgrains through the Targeted Public Distribution System. 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. On the population figures of the last completed census, that works out to about 81.35 crore people. Beneficiary households fall into two groups. Antyodaya Anna Yojana households, described in the Act as the poorest of the poor, are legally entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains per family per month. Each member of a priority household is entitled to 5 kg a month. The Central Government issues advisories asking all States and Union Territories to identify all eligible and poor households, and States keep revising their lists of beneficiaries so that false ration cards are removed and the people who qualify are reached. The Act is handled by the Union ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, which answered for it in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Priority household entitlement:
5 kg per person per month
Antyodaya household entitlement:
35 kg per family per month
Coverage:
Up to 75% rural and up to 50% urban
Why it matters for exams: The two entitlement figures, the names of the two household categories and the coverage ceilings are among the most asked welfare-scheme facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
TPDS Targeted Public Distribution System — The ration shop network through which subsidised grain reaches entitled households.
Antyodaya Anna Yojana AAY — The category of the poorest households, entitled to a fixed quantity for the whole family.
Background
The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian awards of India and are conferred in three categories. Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service. Padma Bhushan is awarded for distinguished service of a high order. Padma Shri is awarded for distinguished service in any field. They reach a wide spread of fields: art, literature and education, medicine, sports and social work, the civil service and public affairs, trade and industry, and science and engineering. The list is announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day. The President of India then confers the awards at ceremonial functions in the capital. The awards are handled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and where a single award goes jointly to two people it is counted as one, which the ministry calls a duo case.
Categories:
Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri
Announced on:
Republic Day
Handled by:
Ministry of Home Affairs
Why it matters for exams: The order of the three Padma categories, the ministry that handles them and the day they are announced are standard awards-and-honours questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Duo case A single Padma Award shared by two people — Such an award is counted as one in the annual list.
Background
A Geographical Indication, or GI, ties a product to the place it comes from and protects the traditional knowledge behind it. As a form of intellectual property, a GI gets international recognition from the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and from the World Trade Organization agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, known as TRIPS. In India the law is the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act of 1999, with Rules notified under it. Registration and protection are overseen by the Geographical Indications Registry at Chennai, which has all-India jurisdiction. An application may be filed at the Registry itself or sent by post, registered post, speed post or courier services. A registration is valid for ten years and can be renewed from time to time, while cancellation or variation is governed by Section 27 of the Act on an application by any aggrieved person. Generic names no longer protected in their country of origin, indications that mislead buyers about origin, and indications that offend religious sentiments cannot be registered. The first Indian product to get a GI tag was Darjeeling Tea of West Bengal, and the early registrations also included Aranmula Kannadi from Kerala and Pochampalli Ikat from Telangana.
Registry:
Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai
Term of registration:
Ten years, renewable
First Indian GI:
Darjeeling Tea
Why it matters for exams: The seat of the GI Registry, the first Indian GI, the ten-year term and Kerala's early GI product are frequent questions in Kerala PSC and UPSC papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
GI Geographical Indication — A sign that a product comes from a particular place and owes its quality to that place.
TRIPS Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights — The World Trade Organization agreement under which GIs get international recognition.
Background
The National Quantum Mission is being run with an outlay of ₹6003.65 crore for a period of eight years. Its work is organised around four Thematic Hubs, each set up at a leading institute and each taking one technology vertical. Quantum computing sits with IISc Bengaluru. Quantum communication is with IIT Madras, working together with C-DoT. Quantum sensing and metrology is with IIT Bombay, and quantum materials and devices with IIT Delhi. The Hubs together hold 14 Technical Groups and 17 Project Teams, drawing 152 researchers from 43 institutions. The Mission also pays for two major quantum fabrication facilities at IISc Bengaluru and IIT Bombay, with smaller facilities at IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur. It has issued guidelines of its own to back quantum start-ups with funding, with access to fabrication facilities and with expert mentorship.
Outlay:
₹6003.65 crore
Term:
Eight years
Thematic Hubs:
Four
Why it matters for exams: Which institute holds which quantum vertical, the number of Thematic Hubs and the Mission's term are the facts a science question set asks here.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
T-Hub Thematic Hub — A hub set up at a host institute to lead one quantum technology vertical.
C-DoT Centre for Development of Telematics — The government telecom research centre partnering the quantum communication hub.