IIT Kharagpur has opened postgraduate medical education inside the IIT system for the first time. The courses will run at the Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre, which works under the institute. Six MD programmes have been cleared with two seats each, taking the total to 12 seats for the 2026-27 session. The subjects are General Medicine, Radiology, Physiology, Pathology, Community Medicine and Biochemistry. The National Medical Commission has accredited the programmes, and admission will be through the second round of NEET-PG online counselling. Director Prof. Suman Chakraborty said the aim is an ecosystem that joins clinical care with engineering and artificial intelligence. IIT Kharagpur, set up in 1951, is the oldest of the IITs.
Total PG medical seats:12MD programmes cleared:6Accrediting body:National Medical Commission
Why it matters for exams: Names the National Medical Commission as the body that accredits medical courses, and fixes IIT Kharagpur (1951) as India's first IIT.
The Technology Development Board has signed an agreement to back an Indian-built electronic intelligence satellite constellation. The Board works under the Department of Science and Technology, and the money comes from the Research, Development and Innovation Fund. Support of Rs 64.05 crore has been committed against a total project cost of Rs 128.11 crore, part of it routed through optionally convertible debentures. The work is being done by Astrome Technologies, a Bengaluru company, and covers microsatellites of the 50 kg class. The package includes an electronic intelligence payload, ground processing software built on artificial intelligence, and an inter-satellite communication link. The project is to be carried from technology readiness level four up to level nine. The Board's Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Pathak, signed for the Government side.
Why it matters for exams: Names the Technology Development Board under the Department of Science and Technology and its Research, Development and Innovation Fund.
The Ministry of Defence has put out a rebuilt version of its gallantry awards website at gallantryawards.gov.in. Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth launched it in New Delhi, with Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh present. The portal is arranged in sections on programmes, memorials and museums, award recipients, media and interactive tributes, along with a reference section called Gallantrypedia and an encyclopaedia of wars called Warpedia. A separate part of the site carries a page for each edition of Veer Gatha, the school programme that asks students to write and draw on the gallantry award winners. Veer Gatha has grown from about 8 lakh students and 4,788 schools in its first edition to more than 1.92 crore students and about 1.9 lakh schools in its fifth. Students of 91 CBSE-affiliated schools in 18 countries also took part, numbering 28,005.
Why it matters for exams: Fixes Veer Gatha as the Ministry of Defence school programme on gallantry award winners, run through the gallantryawards.gov.in portal.
The Ministry of Education has launched three digital platforms built for the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. The first is an artificial-intelligence enabled Vidya Samiksha Kendra at samiksha.kvs.gov.in, which puts out live dashboards on attendance, academic performance, infrastructure and admissions, with a bot that flags gaps and suggests corrective steps. The second is KVS-Samvaad, a parent connect app and web portal at samvaad.kvs.gov.in, through which parents can see attendance, syllabus progress, results and student identity cards, and apply online for bonafide certificates, children education allowance certificates and student leave. The third is an alumni portal at alumni.kvs.gov.in that offers mentorship and career guidance to former students. The Department of School Education and Literacy was associated with the launch, and the ministry asked for the model to be widened across school education.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has reported that its drug demand reduction campaign has now reached more than 35.88 crore people. The campaign, Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, was launched on 15 August 2020 and is run under the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction. Of those reached, more than 14.35 crore are young people and 11.33 crore are women, and over two lakh citizens have registered as Nasha Mukti Mitra volunteers. Awareness activities in educational institutions have crossed 34.07 lakh. The number of people coming forward for treatment and counselling rose from 2.08 lakh in 2020-21 to more than 9.11 lakh in 2025-26, and 198 district de-addiction centres are working. The campaign began in 272 districts, was widened to 372 districts in 2022, and was extended to all districts in 2023.
Why it matters for exams: Names Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and the National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority marked its twenty-second foundation day with the Plant Genome Saviour Awards ceremony. Dr. P. K. Mishra addressed the function. The Authority works under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and was set up under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, which lets both breeders and farmers register plant varieties. The Plant Genome Saviour recognitions are given to farmers and farming communities that have conserved landraces and wild relatives of crop plants and have made that material available for use in breeding. The awards are among the few in India that treat the custodians of seed diversity, rather than the formal breeder, as the party to be rewarded.
Foundation day marked:22ndParent ministry:Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers WelfareGoverning law:Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001
Why it matters for exams: Names the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 and the Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare that gives the Plant Genome Saviour Awards.
Hindustan Copper Limited has reported its results for the first half of the financial year 2026-27. Profit before tax stood at Rs 1,167.20 crore against Rs 427.99 crore in the same half of the previous year, a rise of 173 per cent. Profit after tax was Rs 872.15 crore against Rs 320.30 crore, and revenue from operations was Rs 2,111.74 crore against Rs 1,234.41 crore. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came to Rs 1,268.00 crore, with the margin rising to 60.05 per cent from 42 per cent. The board approved the accounts at its meeting in Kolkata. Hindustan Copper is the central public sector company under the Ministry of Mines that mines copper ore and produces refined copper, and its registered office is at Kolkata.
Profit before tax, first half:Rs 1,167.20 croreProfit after tax, first half:Rs 872.15 croreRevenue from operations:Rs 2,111.74 crore
Why it matters for exams: Fixes Hindustan Copper Limited as the central public sector copper producer under the Ministry of Mines, with its office at Kolkata.
A regional media workshop called Vartalap was held at Phulbani in the Kandhamal district of Odisha, organised by the Press Information Bureau with the district administration and the state police, as part of the Home Ministry's media outreach. Officials placed on record the development work done in regions affected by Left Wing Extremism across the country: 15,199 kilometres of roads built, 9,497 mobile towers installed and 1,804 bank branches made available. For Kandhamal itself, the police said the number of active Maoists in the district had fallen from more than a hundred to single digits. A presentation traced the history of the movement in Odisha, including the creation of the Special Operations Group and the Special Intelligence Wing in 2004. Surrendered cadre and journalists took part in the session.
Roads built in affected regions:15,199 kmMobile towers installed:9,497Bank branches available:1,804
Why it matters for exams: Names Vartalap as the Press Information Bureau's regional media workshop and gives the road, tower and bank-branch figures for Left Wing Extremism affected areas.
The Indian Navy ship INS Trishul has completed a port call at the Safaga Naval Base in Egypt while on an operational deployment. The commanding officer called on the Commander of Egypt's Red Sea Naval Base, Rear Admiral M D Abd El Maksoud. Talks covered maritime security in the Gulf of Suez and the importance of the Red Sea, and the two navies carried out joint diving training. The visit follows the eleventh meeting of the India-Egypt Joint Defence Committee, held at Cairo earlier this year, which works within the framework of a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation signed in 2022. India and Egypt raised their relationship to a Strategic Partnership in 2023.
Why it matters for exams: Names the Safaga Naval Base and the India-Egypt Joint Defence Committee, and fixes 2023 as the year the two countries moved to a Strategic Partnership.
The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, through its Central Ayurveda Research Institute, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Delhi to survey and document the medicinal plant diversity of the university's North Campus. The Council is the apex body for research in Ayurveda and works under the Ministry of Ayush. Work of this kind records the species present, their local names and their uses in classical Ayurvedic practice, and creates a reference collection for teaching and further study. Bringing a university campus into such a survey also opens the botanical records of the campus to students of both medicine and botany.
Signing bodies:CCRAS and the University of DelhiParent ministry:Ministry of AyushSubject of the survey:Medicinal plant diversity, North Campus
Why it matters for exams: Names the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences as the apex Ayurveda research body under the Ministry of Ayush.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced that the forty-fifth edition of the India International Trade Fair will be inaugurated in New Delhi by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal. The fair is the country's largest general trade exhibition and brings together central ministries, state and union territory pavilions, public sector undertakings, small and medium enterprises and foreign exhibitors in one place. States take turns as partner and focus states, which gives each a pavilion of its own to show its crafts, produce and investment offers. The event is held every year in the capital in the second half of November and runs for a fortnight, with the opening days reserved for business visitors and the later days opened to the public.
Edition:45thVenue city:New DelhiMinistry:Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Why it matters for exams: Fixes the India International Trade Fair as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's annual New Delhi trade exhibition, now in its 45th edition.
A two-day conference of Indian Air Force commanders was held in New Delhi, with the Defence Minister calling for operational readiness and a technological edge. At the conference, the Air Force's UDAAN unit put out a set of artificial intelligence applications developed inside the service. UDAAN stands for Unit for Digitisation, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking, and the applications run on the Air Force's own secure network. They cover operations, administration and aerospace safety. Rajnath Singh led the session. Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit holds the office of Chief of the Air Staff, and the Minister of State for Defence also attended.
Unit:UDAAN - Unit for Digitization, Automation, AI and Application NetworkingChief of the Air Staff:Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh DixitConference length:Two days
Why it matters for exams: Fixes Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit as Chief of the Air Staff and names UDAAN, the Air Force's digitisation and AI unit.