The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP), which works under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has put out a draft set of rules for registering allied and healthcare workers. They are called the Draft Provisional Registration of Allied and Healthcare Professionals Regulations, 2026, and they are framed under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021. A person who is eligible may first get a provisional registration, and then move to regular registration after meeting prescribed competency standards. Qualifying examinations and bridge courses are proposed so that those already in practice can upgrade their skills. An integrated digital registration system is proposed to make the process uniform and easier to check. The Commission has asked the public and other stakeholders to send comments by 4 December 2026.
Last date for comments:4 December 2026
Why it matters for exams: It fixes the body (NCAHP), its parent Act (the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021) and the ministry that runs it.
NCAHPNational Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions — The statutory regulator for allied and healthcare professions in India, set up under the Act of 2021.
A research team at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur has developed a new family of niobium-rich Refractory Complex Lean Alloys, called RCLAs. The alloys are built to hold their strength and resist oxidation at 1,000 degrees Celsius, and they are also easier to shape at room temperature. The team was led by Dr Saurabh Nene of the Department of Materials Engineering, with Dr Dharmendra Yadav, Dr Akshit Dutta and Aditya Balpande. Conventional high-temperature refractory alloys, including the widely used Nb-10Hf-1Ti alloy known as C-103, lose strength or oxidise badly in such heat. The institute says the new alloys could be used in aerospace, space exploration, defence and hypersonic technologies. The work has been published in an international journal.
Oxidation resistance:1,000°C
Why it matters for exams: It fixes the institute, the new alloy family RCLA and the conventional alloy C-103 it improves on.
The Luxembourg Olympic and Sports Committee, known as COSL, together with that country's Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, invited the Bharat Centre of Olympic Research and Education to an international workshop on Olympic education. The centre, called BCORE, functions under the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Studies Centre network and is based at Rashtriya Raksha University. The workshop was held from 3 to 6 November 2026 in Athens and Olympia in Greece. It was meant to support De Léiw an Dir, which means 'The Lion Within You', Luxembourg's national Olympic values education programme. BCORE was the invitee from Asia, and its Director, Dr Utsav Chaware, represented India. Prof. Konstantinos Georgiadis, Dean of the International Olympic Academy, was among the other participants.
Workshop venue:Athens and Olympia, Greece
Why it matters for exams: It names BCORE, the university that hosts it and the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Studies Centre network.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh chaired the second general body meeting of the Earth System Sciences Council, or ESSC. The council reviewed the work of the institutions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences in deep ocean research, weather forecasting, ocean information services and polar research. The Minister said India's deep-sea exploration is advancing with the Matsya-6000 submersible and with Indo-French collaboration. He also proposed a mission-mode approach for polar and solid earth sciences so that results come faster. The meeting called for citizen-centric science communication, so that research findings reach ordinary readers in plain language.
Meeting:Second General Body Meeting of ESSC
Why it matters for exams: It names the Earth System Sciences Council, the Deep Ocean Mission's Matsya-6000 submersible and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council, known as BRIC, marked its third Foundation Day at the BRIC-National Institute of Immunology. Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh said India has the potential to lead the next biotechnology-driven industrial revolution and asked industry to take a larger part in the sector. He said BRIC's integrated model is helping institutions work together while each keeps its own autonomy. At the event, BRIC and the United Kingdom's Centre for Process Innovation signed a Letter of Intent to work together on biomanufacturing. BRIC functions under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology.
Occasion:Third Foundation Day of BRIC
Why it matters for exams: It fixes BRIC, the institute that hosted its Foundation Day and the British body it signed with.
BRICBiotechnology Research and Innovation Council — An umbrella body that brings the autonomous biotechnology research institutes of India under one council.
Professor Arun Kumarendu Singh, Professor and Head of Paediatrics at the School of Medicine of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, has been appointed Adviser to the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of West Bengal. The appointment is for two years and focuses on strengthening maternal and child healthcare. Professor Singh is widely described as the father of Sick Newborn Care Units, or SNCUs, in India, and helped build the country's modern newborn care network. The institute says the appointment shows the growing national role of its new medical school, which joins clinical work with engineering and technology. IIT Kharagpur is building the medical school as an interdisciplinary one, joining medical education and clinical services with its strengths in engineering, artificial intelligence and biomedical technologies.
Term:Two years
Why it matters for exams: It names the appointee, the office he takes and what SNCU stands for.
The Regional Campus of the National Academy of Direct Taxes at Bengaluru and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore have signed a memorandum of understanding. The agreement covers collaboration in training, academics and research, and is meant to join the experience of tax administration with management education. It was signed by Dr Satyasai Rath of the Indian Revenue Service, Principal Additional Director General (Training) at the academy's Bengaluru campus, and Professor Sushanta Kumar Mishra, Chairperson of Executive Education Programmes at IIM Bangalore. The National Academy of Direct Taxes is the apex training institution for officers of the Indian Revenue Service on the direct taxes side, and works under the Union Ministry of Finance.
Agreement:Memorandum of Understanding
Why it matters for exams: It fixes what NADT is, the service it trains and the ministry it belongs to.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) hosted an India-Norway Dialogue at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on turning cement and construction waste into usable resources. Norway's research institute SINTEF and the Research Council of Norway were co-organisers. Scientists from CSIR laboratories, regulators and people from the cement and building industry attended. Joint technology proposals for recovering material from waste, rather than dumping it, were discussed. The organisers placed the meeting under the Green Strategic Partnership, the level to which the two countries raised their relationship during the Prime Minister's visit to Norway in May. Prof. R. Pradeep Kumar, Director of CSIR-CBRI, and Dr Kare Helge Karstensen, Chief Scientist at SINTEF, spoke.
Venue:India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Why it matters for exams: It names the India-Norway Green Strategic Partnership and CSIR's role in circular economy research.
CSIRCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research — India's largest chain of publicly funded research laboratories, under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Indian school students took two gold, two silver and one bronze at the fifth International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics for Juniors, known as IOAA-Jr. The 2026 edition was held at Ubon Ratchathani in Thailand from 1 to 8 November, drawing 104 students from 25 countries. Siddharth Laxmisha of Puducherry and Swara Srujal Patel of Gujarat won the gold medals. Silver went to Aarna Chaplot of Kota and Krish Bhaskar of Bagar, both from Rajasthan, and Akshara Gulab Ambone of Maharashtra took the bronze. India's authorised national representative organisation for the olympiad is the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), which works under the Union Ministry of Culture. NCSM chose the team through a five-stage selection under the Indian National Junior Astronomy Olympiad and trained it at camps before departure. K. S. Murali, Director General of NCSM, congratulated the winners.
Medals:2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronzeParticipation:104 students from 25 countries
Why it matters for exams: It names the IOAA-Jr. olympiad, the National Council of Science Museums and the ministry it belongs to.
The new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences created under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana have together crossed six crore outpatient department consultations over five years, counted up to 31 October 2026. Twenty-two new AIIMS stand approved under the scheme and eighteen are fully functional, offering treatment, medical education and research. Their yearly outpatient numbers have nearly tripled: 50.03 lakh in the first of those years, against 144.96 lakh in the latest. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare says the network was widened to narrow regional gaps in affordable tertiary care. Strengthening medical education and research is the scheme's second purpose alongside treatment.
New AIIMS approved:22OPD consultations in 2025-26:144.96 lakh
Why it matters for exams: It fixes the scheme PMSSY, its ministry and the number of new AIIMS approved under it.
Bhubaneswar in Odisha is hosting a national event of two days on conserving agro-biodiversity, farming that withstands a changing climate, and sustainable food systems. Dr Mangi Lal Jat, Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, urged that millet cultivation be widened to five lakh hectares with production of eight lakh metric tonnes as the target for 2047. The Governor of Odisha, Braj Mohan Ram, and the state's Agriculture Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo attended. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, spoke alongside agricultural scientists and policymakers. The organisers described the meeting as a national roadmap for a millet-led shift in farming.
Millet area target:5 lakh hectaresProduction target by 2047:8 lakh metric tonnes
Why it matters for exams: It fixes the ICAR Director General's dual charge as DARE Secretary, the millet target and who chairs the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.
ICARIndian Council of Agricultural Research — The apex body for agricultural research and education in India, under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education.
In 1955 the Central Government established the First Law Commission. Its chairman was the then Attorney-General of India, Setalvad. Since then more than twenty Law Commissions have been appointed, one after another. Each has a three-year term and a definite term of reference. It works under the Ministry of Law and Justice. Before the first commission, the Constitution had kept pre-Constitution laws alive under article 372 until they were amended or repealed. The demand at the time was for a Central Law Commission to revise and update the inherited laws. Under the Constitution, which came into force on the 26th January 1950, legislative power rests with Parliament and the State Legislatures.
First Law Commission:1955Its chairman:M. C. SetalvadMinistry it works under:Ministry of Law and JusticeTerm of each commission:three-year term
Why it matters for exams: The First Law Commission of 1955 under M. C. Setalvad, the three-year term of each commission and article 372 on pre-Constitution laws are the durable facts of law reform.