5 November 2026
The Ministry of Defence has said that Amini, one of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC), was delivered to the Indian Navy on 05 Nov 2026. The craft was indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, to the classification rules of the Indian Register of Shipping. These are among the largest Indian naval warships driven by waterjets, and they carry lightweight torpedoes, indigenous rocket launchers and sonars to find and engage underwater threats. The ship adds to the anti-submarine, coastal surveillance and mine laying capability of the Navy. Amini takes its name from Amini Island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, and revives the name of an earlier Petya III Class corvette decommissioned in 2002. The Ministry put indigenous content in the ship at over 80 percent.
Builder:
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata
Indigenous content:
over 80 percent
Why it matters for exams: Amini is an Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, and it is named after Amini Island in Lakshadweep.
Kerala PSCUPSC
6 November 2026
The telecom regulator has brought out fresh amendment regulations covering the register of interconnect agreements, and they start to apply from 1st January 2027. Networks run by different companies have to be joined to one another, through commercial and technical arrangements, before a subscriber of one operator can reach a subscriber of another; that joining is what interconnection means. Rules framed in 1999 first set out how such agreements are to be registered and how the register is to be kept. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act gives the Authority the duty of keeping that register and of letting the public inspect it after paying the prescribed fee. Wanting the framework to stay current and transparent, the Authority first floated a pre-consultation paper, then a full consultation paper. Seventeen stakeholders sent comments and nine sent counter-comments, and an Open House Discussion was also held. The chief change is that every service provider must now register its interconnect agreements online.
Comes into force:
1st January 2027
Parent regulations:
Register of Interconnect Agreements Regulations, 1999
Why it matters for exams: The register of interconnect agreements is maintained by TRAI under section 11(1)(b) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, and the parent regulations date from 1999.
Kerala PSCUPSC
6 November 2026
The Ministry of Education has announced that the head of IIT Kharagpur, Professor Suman Chakraborty, now joins the fellowship of The World Academy of Sciences, and he takes that fellowship from January 1, 2027. What the honour recognises, the Ministry said, is his research record together with his long effort to carry science forward in the developing world. Congratulations reached him in a formal letter signed by the President of the academy, Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim. Building research strength in poorer countries, and pushing scientific excellence, is what this international academy exists to do. At his own institute he holds an Institute Chair Professorship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, along with a national fellowship named after an Indian physicist. Fellowships of the American Physical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the three national science academies of India are already his, and a formal introduction to the academy will follow at its next General Conference.
Fellowship effective:
January 1, 2027
Chair held:
Institute Chair Professor and Sir J. C. Bose National Fellow
Why it matters for exams: The World Academy of Sciences, abbreviated TWAS, is the international academy that builds scientific capacity in developing countries, and its President is Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim.
Kerala PSCUPSC
5 November 2026
Taxpayers and tax professionals in Kolkata were taken through the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme at a programme held by the Income Tax Department. Who may come forward, and how a declaration is to be made, was set out by Shri Alok Singh, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-2, Kolkata. Property held abroad and bank accounts held outside the country are among the holdings that a declarant can bring on record, along with income earned abroad that was never offered to tax. Somebody who is a non-resident today can still qualify, he said, where that person was resident in India in the year the income arose or the asset was bought. The facility is a one-time route created by Chapter IV of the Finance Act, 2026, in Sections 130 to 144. It opened on August 16, 2026, runs online from end to end, and closes for declarations on December 31, 2026. Where the holding was never taxed, the value must stay within ₹1 crore and the payment is tax at 30 per cent plus a matching amount; where it was taxed but left out of the return schedule, the limit is ₹5 crore against a flat fee of ₹1 lakh.
Statutory basis:
Chapter IV, Sections 130 to 144 of the Finance Act, 2026
Last date for declarations:
December 31, 2026
Ceiling, first category:
₹1 crore
Why it matters for exams: The Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme, 2026 is a one-time voluntary disclosure facility under Chapter IV, Sections 130 to 144 of the Finance Act, 2026.
Kerala PSCUPSC
6 November 2026
Upper age limits for entry to the three-year and the five-year law courses stand withdrawn, the Bar Council of India has told the Supreme Court. A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana heard of the resolution while taking up a plea by Rishab Duggal. What he had challenged was a circular through which the Bar Council put Clause 28 back into Schedule III of Rule 11 of the Rules of Legal Education, 2008. Under that clause nobody above 20 years of age could enter the integrated bachelor of law degree programme. Once the withdrawal was placed on record the matter was closed as infructuous. Behind the resolution lay a reasoned order by Justice Rajendra Menon, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Co-Chairman of the Legal Education Committee, together with a resolution of the Standing Committee on Legal Education. An outright ceiling on age had no sufficient academic basis, the General Council concluded, since requirements already in force on qualifications, attendance, teaching hours, examinations and professional training keep standards safe on their own.
Rule withdrawn:
Clause 28 in Schedule III of Rule 11 of the Rules of Legal Education, 2008
Earlier maximum age:
20 years for the integrated bachelor of law degree programme
Why it matters for exams: Legal education in India is regulated by the Bar Council of India through the Rules of Legal Education, 2008, and the age bar sat in Clause 28 of Schedule III of Rule 11.
Kerala PSCUPSC
6 November 2026
Punjab and Haryana must hand Himachal Pradesh roughly 11,973 million units of electricity spread over twenty years, the Supreme Court has directed, shutting a dispute of many years over how power from the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas projects is shared. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana fixed delivery at roughly 598 million units each year, to be supplied in the lean season. Himachal Pradesh owes 7.19 per cent of what the projects cost to build, put at ₹420.77 crores, and that sum is to be knocked off against the energy owed to it. Electricity is to be priced at ₹3.85 per unit for the purpose, which brings the set-off to roughly 1,093 million units. The suit itself was filed by Himachal Pradesh in 1996 under Article 131 of the Constitution to claim its share of the generation. Back in 2011 the Court had held the State entitled to 7.19 per cent of the power that belonged to the old composite State of Punjab. What this order settles is the quantity, the rate and who bears how much of the capital cost.
Power arrears ordered:
approximately 11,973 million units over 20 years
Share of Himachal Pradesh:
7.19%
Valuation rate:
₹3.85 per unit
Why it matters for exams: A suit between the Union and States or between States comes before the Supreme Court under Article 131, its original jurisdiction, and Himachal Pradesh holds a 7.19% share in the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas projects.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 is the central law that set up an anti-corruption body for the Union and asked the States to provide a Lokayukta for States. Section 3 says that on and from the commencement of the Act a body called the Lokpal shall stand established. Its Chairperson has to be a sitting or former Chief Justice of India. A sitting or former Judge of the Supreme Court also qualifies, and so does an eminent person who meets the test the Act lays down for a non-judicial Member. The Lokpal may have Members not exceeding eight, and fifty per cent of them shall be Judicial Members. A proviso adds that not less than half of all Members must come from the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, from Other Backward Classes or Minorities, or be women. A Judicial Member must be a sitting or former Judge of the Supreme Court, or a sitting or former Chief Justice of a High Court; another Member needs at least twenty-five years of expertise in fields such as anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance and law. Nobody under forty-five years of age can take the office.
Largest number of Members:
not exceeding eight
Share who must be Judicial Members:
fifty per cent
Minimum age for office:
forty-five years
Experience a non-judicial Member needs:
twenty-five years
Why it matters for exams: The Lokpal's strength — eight Members at most, half of them Judicial Members — and the Chairperson's qualification are standard Polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
Section 6 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007 sets out who may be appointed to the Tribunal that hears the service disputes of defence personnel. For the top post the rule is narrow. The Chairperson must be a retired Judge of the Supreme Court, or else a retired Chief Justice of a High Court; nobody else qualifies. A Judicial Member must be a sitting or former Judge of a High Court. An Administrative Member needs both of two things. One is rank: he must have held, or be holding, the rank of Major General or above. That must add up to at least three years in the Army, or an equal rank in the Navy or the Air Force. The other is legal work: he must have served a year or more as Judge Advocate General in one of the three services, and his rank must not fall below Major General, Commodore and Air Commodore respectively. An Explanation to the section adds that a serving person appointed as an Administrative Member shall have retired from service before taking up the appointment.
One of the two routes to Chairperson:
a retired Judge of the Supreme Court
Judicial Member test:
a Judge of a High Court
Minimum rank for an Administrative Member:
Major General or above
Legal appointment an Administrative Member must have held:
Judge Advocate General
Why it matters for exams: The Armed Forces Tribunal Act's qualification rule — a retired Supreme Court Judge or a retired High Court Chief Justice as Chairperson — is a durable Defence and Polity fact.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Press Council Act, 1978 set up the Press Council of India, a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal. Section 5 gives it a Chairman and twenty-eight other members. The Chairman is nominated by a committee of three: the Chairman of the Council of States, the Speaker of the House of the People, and a person elected by the members of the Council. Of the twenty-eight, thirteen are working journalists, six of them editors and the other seven not editors; six come from newspaper management; one manages a news agency; three have special knowledge of education and science, law, and literature and culture, nominated one each by the University Grants Commission, the Bar Council of India and the Sahitya Academy; and five are members of Parliament. The Chairman and members hold office for a period of three years, with a proviso keeping the Chairman in place until the Council is reconstituted or for six months, whichever is earlier. The objects of the Council are the freedom of the Press and better standards among newspapers and news agencies, and on a complaint it can warn, admonish or censure after a hearing.
Strength of the Council:
a Chairman and twenty-eight other members
Term of office:
a period of three years
One of the three nominating bodies:
Bar Council of India
First stated object:
the freedom of the Press
Why it matters for exams: The Press Council of India's strength of a Chairman and twenty-eight members, the three-member committee that picks the Chairman and the three-year term are repeat Polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Marine Products Export Development Authority is the body India uses to develop and promote its exports of marine products, and section 4 of its own Act of 1972 sets out how it is built. On a date notified by the Central Government the Authority stands established, as a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, able to hold property, contract, sue and be sued. Its members are a Chairman appointed by the Central Government; the Director of Marine Products Export Development, ex officio; three members of Parliament, of whom the House of the People elects two and the Council of States one; and five members to represent the Union ministries dealing with agriculture, finance, foreign trade, industry, and shipping and transport. To these the Central Government may add other members not exceeding twenty, chosen to represent the coastal States and Union territories, owners of fishing vessels and processing plants, dealers, workers in the industry, and research institutions in the field. An officer of the Central Government deputed for the purpose can attend meetings and take part in them, but is not entitled to vote. The Authority elects a Vice-Chairman from among its own members.
Members of Parliament on the Authority:
three members of Parliament
Ministry representatives:
five members
Largest number of other members:
not exceeding twenty
Ex officio member:
Director of Marine Products Export Development
Why it matters for exams: The statutory composition of the Authority — a Chairman, three members of Parliament and five ministry representatives — and its elected Vice-Chairman are exam-worthy for Kerala aspirants.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Coffee Act, 1942 is the statute behind the Coffee Board of India. Section 4 says the Board set up under an Ordinance of 1940 as the Indian Coffee Market Expansion Board shall be the Coffee Board for this Act. Its membership is a Chairman appointed by the Central Government by notification; three Members of Parliament, of whom the House of the People elects two and the Council of States one; and other members too, not exceeding twenty-nine, as many as the Central Government thinks fit. Those others are picked to represent the Governments of the principal coffee-growing States, the coffee-growing industry, coffee trade interests, curing establishments, the interests of labour and of consumers, and any other interest the Central Government thinks fit. The Board is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and the property of the former Indian Coffee Cess Committee vested in it. The Board elects a Vice-Chairman from among its own members, and holding membership does not disqualify a person from being chosen for either House of Parliament. Before taking action touching the affairs of the Board the Central Government shall ordinarily consult it, though a proviso says no action is invalid merely for want of that consultation.
Governing Act:
The Coffee Act, 1942
Members of Parliament on the Board:
three Members of Parliament
Largest number of other members:
not exceeding twenty-nine
Body whose property vested in the Board:
Indian Coffee Cess Committee
Why it matters for exams: The Coffee Board's statutory composition and its descent from the Indian Coffee Cess Committee are durable Economy and Agriculture facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 creates a regulator for coastal farming, and the text now in force carries the 2023 amendment. Section 4 establishes an Authority called the Coastal Aquaculture Authority from a date the Central Government notifies, with its head office at such place as the Central Government may decide. The Central Government appoints every member, and the Chairperson is a sitting or former Judge of a High Court. Then come one expert in coastal aquaculture; one expert in coastal ecology nominated by the Department of Ocean Development; one expert in environment protection or pollution control nominated by the environment ministry; one member each for the agriculture and commerce ministries; four members to represent the coastal States on a rotation basis; and a member-secretary. The term of the Chairperson and of every other member is three years. Section 5 has five disqualifications: conviction with a sentence of imprisonment for an offence the Central Government considers to involve moral turpitude, undischarged insolvency, unsoundness of mind so declared by a competent court, removal or dismissal from government service, and a financial or other interest in the Authority that would prejudice the work of a member. The amended Act also defines aqua mapping and aqua zonation for coastal planning.
Who chairs it:
a Judge of a High Court
Seats for the coastal States:
four members
Term of office:
three years
Where the head office sits:
at such place as the Central Government may decide
Why it matters for exams: That a sitting or former High Court Judge chairs the Coastal Aquaculture Authority, and that four seats go to the coastal States by rotation, are durable Environment questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC