6 October 2026
The Assam Cabinet approved the Assam Sustainable Wetland and Integrated Fisheries Transformation (SWIFT) Project at a total cost of ₹796.88 crore.
It includes an Asian Development Bank loan of ₹637.504 crore and a state contribution of ₹159.376 crore.
The project will restore at least 102 derelict community beels, the floodplain wetlands of Assam.
ADB's own project page records approval of a US$71.90 million loan on 12 December 2025.
Its aim is to raise the income of beel fishermen through better management and diversified livelihoods.
Total cost:
₹796.88 crore
ADB loan:
₹637.504 crore
State contribution:
₹159.376 crore
Beels to be restored:
at least 102
Why it matters for exams: Wetlands, externally aided projects and fisheries policy are common in environment and economy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Beel Floodplain wetland — A beel is a floodplain wetland in Assam that supports fisheries.
ADB Asian Development Bank — A multilateral development bank financing projects in Asia.
6 October 2026
The Centre has notified Justice Kaushik Goswami as a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court, following the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation of 23 September 2026.
He was elevated as an Additional Judge on 2 November 2023.
The notification was issued under clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution.
He was designated a Senior Advocate on 19 May 2022 and enrolled as an advocate on 27 July 2000.
Collegium recommendation:
23 September 2026
Additional Judge since:
2 November 2023
Constitutional provision:
Article 217(1)
Why it matters for exams: Appointment of High Court judges under Article 217 and the Collegium system are standard polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Collegium Supreme Court Collegium — The body of senior judges that recommends appointments to the higher judiciary.
6 October 2026
Justice Devashis Baruah of the Gauhati High Court held, in a ruling reported on 21 September 2026, that the Forest Department must follow the Supreme Court's directions in Abdul Khalek when acting against forest occupants.
The case is Yunus Ali & 14 Ors. v. State of Assam & 8 Ors. (WP(C)/4258/2025).
The court held that notices issued in July 2025 over occupation of South Nambar Reserved Forest had become redundant in view of the Abdul Khalek directions.
In June 2026 a division bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury upheld the eviction of Taungya settlers from reserved forests, with a 45-day extension.
Judge:
Justice Devashis Baruah
Case:
WP(C)/4258/2025
Notices held redundant:
Issued July 2025
Why it matters for exams: Due process in evictions and forest law are recurring themes in polity and environment questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Taungya Taungya settlement — A temporary arrangement under which people were allowed to cultivate within forest land.
Background
The Kaziranga National Park is one of the oldest wildlife conservancy reserves of India. It was first notified in 1905 and constituted as Reserved Forest in 1908 with an area of 228.825 Sq. Km. It was specially established for the conservation and protection of the Greater One Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros Unicornis), whose number was estimated at twenty pairs then. Kaziranga was declared a Game Sanctuary in 1916 and opened to visitors in 1938. It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1950, and notified as Kaziranga National Park in 1974 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, with an area of 429.93 Sq. Km., which has since been extended to 899 Sq. Km. The Kaziranga National park was declared a Tiger Reserve in the year 2007, after which it draws financial support under CSS Project Tiger, which is under the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The park has the river Brahmaputra on its north, and the Panbari Reserve Forest in Golaghat District is one of several notified forests in its vicinity.
First notified:
1905
Reserved Forest:
1908, 228.825 Sq. Km
Game Sanctuary:
1916
Wildlife Sanctuary:
1950
National Park:
1974, 429.93 Sq. Km (since extended to 899 Sq. Km)
Tiger Reserve:
2007
Why it matters for exams: The ladder of legal statuses a protected area climbs, and the Act under which a national park is notified, is one of the most repeated question shapes in both Kerala PSC and UPSC environment papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Reserved Forest — A forest area notified by the state in which all activities are prohibited unless specifically permitted.
NTCA National Tiger Conservation Authority — The central statutory body that administers Project Tiger and the country's tiger reserves.
Background
The National Tiger Conservation Authority's list of tiger reserves records four reserves in Assam: Manas, Kaziranga, Nameri and Orang. Manas carries a core area of 526.22 sq km and a buffer of 2,310.88 sq km, a total of 2,837.10 sq km, the largest of the four and a reserve in which the buffer is more than four times the core. Kaziranga is recorded with a core of 625.58 sq km and a buffer of 548.00 sq km, a total of 1,173.58 sq km, one of the two Assam reserves whose core is larger than its buffer. Nameri, the other, has a core of 320 sq km and a buffer of 144.00 sq km, a total of 464.00 sq km, and is the most core-dominated of the four. Orang has the smallest core of the four at 79.28 sq km, with a buffer of 413.18 sq km and a total of 492.46 sq km. The tiger reserve notification years the list gives are 2008 for Manas, 2007 for Kaziranga, 2000 for Nameri and 2016 for Orang. A core area is the inviolate heart of a reserve and the buffer around it is managed for coexistence, so the ratio between the two says a good deal about how a reserve is run.
Manas (core / buffer / total):
526.22 / 2,310.88 / 2,837.10 sq km
Kaziranga (core / buffer / total):
625.58 / 548.00 / 1,173.58 sq km
Nameri (core / buffer / total):
320 / 144.00 / 464.00 sq km
Orang (core / buffer / total):
79.28 / 413.18 / 492.46 sq km
Why it matters for exams: Examiners ask which states hold how many tiger reserves and which reserve is largest; Assam's set is unusual because one reserve is almost all buffer and another is core-heavy.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Core area — The inviolate part of a tiger reserve, kept free of human settlement and resource use.
Buffer area — The belt around a core where regulated use and coexistence with people are allowed.
Background
“Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty” from Assam was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as India's 43rd entry, at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee held at New Delhi. The UNESCO list of properties inscribed for India records the year of inscription as 2024. It is the third World Heritage Property from Assam, following Kaziranga National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, both inscribed under the Natural category in 1985, and it is the first cultural heritage site from the North East on the list. The moidams are a royal mound burial site created by the Tai-Ahom, situated in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in eastern Assam. The Tai-Ahom people arrived in Assam in the 13th century, establishing Charaideo as their first city and the site of the royal necropolis. For 600 years, from the 13th to the 19th century CE, the Tai-Ahom constructed moidams, or “home-for-spirit”, using natural elements such as hills, forests and water to create a sacred geography. The mounds were initially built with wood and later with stone and burnt bricks, as documented in the Changrung Phukan, the Ahoms' traditional canonical literature. The Archaeological Survey of India and the Assam State Department of Archaeology have worked together on the site's conservation.
Inscribed:
2024
India's entry number:
43rd
Place:
Charaideo, eastern Assam
Builders:
Tai-Ahom
Period of construction:
13th to 19th century CE
Why it matters for exams: World Heritage inscriptions are asked year after year, and this one carries three further hooks an examiner can use: Assam's count of properties, the North East's first cultural site, and the Ahom dynasty itself.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Moidam — A Tai-Ahom royal burial mound, read as a home-for-spirit rather than a tomb alone.
Changrung Phukan — The Ahoms' traditional canonical literature, which records how the mounds were built.
Necropolis — A large burial ground of an ancient city, used here for the royal burials at Charaideo.
Background
Assam's two main river systems both carry declared national waterways. National Waterway-2 (NW-2) runs on the Brahmaputra from Dhubri to Sadiya (891 km) in Assam and is an operational waterway for shipping and navigation. The navigable channel on NW-2 is maintained at 2.5 m depth between Dhubri and Neamati, 2.0 m depth between Neamati and Dibrugarh and 1.5 m depth between Dibrugarh and Oriumghat, by annual maintenance dredging. National Waterway-16 is the Barak river, where fairway development works were taken up for a navigable channel of the required depth and width between Silchar and Bhanga, a distance of 70 km. 20 National Waterways out of 111 are in the North Eastern Region (NER), and other Assam rivers also carry National Waterway numbers, among them the Subansiri (NW-95) and the Dhansiri or Chathe (NW-31), on which feasibility studies have been completed. Facilities built on NW-2 include a Multimodal terminal at Pandu with Low Level and High Level Jetty, a Ro-Ro terminal at Dhubri, and a Floating terminal at 11 locations on NW-2, among them Hatsingimari, Jogighopa, Tezpur, Silghat, Biswanathghat, Neamati, Bogibeel and Oriumghat. The Brahmaputra and the Barak waterways together map the physical shape of the state: the long Brahmaputra valley in the north and the shorter Barak valley in the south.
NW-2:
Brahmaputra, Dhubri to Sadiya, 891 km
NW-16:
Barak, Silchar to Bhanga, 70 km
National waterways in the North Eastern Region:
20 out of 111
Multimodal terminal:
Pandu
Why it matters for exams: National waterway numbers and their end points are standard objective questions, and NW-2 is the one that fixes the Brahmaputra's navigable stretch inside Assam.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Ro-Ro Roll-on roll-off — A ferry service on which vehicles drive straight on and off, used to cross the Brahmaputra.
Maintenance dredging — Repeated removal of silt from a river bed to hold a channel at a declared depth.
Background
Assam has the potential for production of 3 varieties of silk: mulberry, eri and muga. Muga silk of Assam is the unique golden-yellow silk produced only in India. Muga is a wild eco race available only in India, found mainly in Assam and parts of Meghalaya and Nagaland bordering Assam. The Central Silk Board runs the Central Muga Research Institute at Ladoigarh, Jorhat, in Assam, where 8 best muga silkworm races have been isolated and assessed. A Muga Raw Material Bank (MRMB) is functioning at Sibsagar in Assam with three sub-depots, at Dhakukhana and Sualkuchi in Assam and Coochbehar in West Bengal. The Government, through the Central Silk Board, has implemented the centrally sponsored Catalytic Development Programme in collaboration with the State Sericulture Department of Assam to promote Mulberry, Eri and Muga silk production in Assam. The official account records that Assam does not produce the quantity of mulberry silk its consumers demand, mulberry silk yarn being supplied by traders from other parts of the country, and that a few silk fabric traders have been producing Assamese dress materials, particularly Mekhela-Chadar, of mulberry silk at weaving units outside the State. The Silk Mark scheme of the Silk Mark Organisation of India is the quality assurance label for products made of pure silk.
Silk varieties in Assam:
Mulberry, eri and muga
Muga research institute:
Central Muga Research Institute, Ladoigarh, Jorhat
Muga Raw Material Bank:
Sibsagar
Traditional dress material:
Mekhela-Chadar
Why it matters for exams: Muga is the one silk an examiner can ask about as exclusive to India, and the pairing of a silk variety with its research institute and its home district is a standard matching question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Sericulture — The rearing of silkworms and the reeling of their cocoons into raw silk.
Eco race — A population of silkworms adapted to one region's climate and host plants.
Mekhela-Chadar — The two-piece Assamese dress worn by women, woven in silk.
Background
Gauhati University was established on 26 January, 1948, and is the oldest public university in Assam. It describes itself as the oldest and the largest university in the entire Northeast, on which other academic institutions of Northeast India built their own beginnings. Krishna Kanta Handique was its founder Vice-Chancellor and Phanidhar Dutta its first Registrar; the first convocation was held on 3 February 1951. At founding in 1948 the university had 18 affiliated colleges and 8 Post-Graduate Departments. Its motto is Vidyaya Sadhayeta, rendered as achievement through learning, and its anthem, Jilikaba Luitare Par, was composed by Bhupen Hazarika. The demand that produced it was old: the first public demand for a university in Assam was made at the annual session of the Assam Association held at Sivasagar in 1917. Dibrugarh University, the easternmost University in India, was established in 1965 consequent upon the provisions of the Dibrugarh University Act, 1965, enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly.
Gauhati University established:
26 January 1948
Founder Vice-Chancellor:
Krishna Kanta Handique
First convocation:
3 February 1951
At founding:
18 affiliated colleges, 8 Post-Graduate Departments
Dibrugarh University established:
1965, under the Dibrugarh University Act, 1965
Why it matters for exams: Founding years of state universities, the Act that creates them and the superlatives attached to them (oldest in the Northeast, easternmost in India) are exactly the details objective papers pick on.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Convocation — The formal ceremony at which a university confers its degrees.
Affiliated college — A college that teaches to a university's syllabus and whose students take that university's degrees.
Background
Kaziranga National Park in Assam is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with a date of inscription of 1985 under natural criteria (ix) and (x), and a World Heritage reference number of 337. UNESCO gives the property area as 42,996 ha. The List's description opens: "In the heart of Assam, this park is one of the last areas in eastern India undisturbed by a human presence. It is inhabited by the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, as well as many mammals, including tigers, elephants, panthers and bears, and thousands of birds." The statement of Outstanding Universal Value calls it the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain, made up of wet alluvial tall grassland interspersed with numerous broad shallow pools fringed with reeds and patches of deciduous to semi-evergreen woodlands. UNESCO credits the park with taking the Indian one-horned rhinoceros from the brink of extinction to the single largest population of the species, and records significant populations of tigers, elephants, wild water buffalo and bears, aquatic species including the Ganges River dolphin, and an important role for migratory birds.
Date of Inscription:
1985
Criteria:
(ix)(x)
Property area:
42,996 ha
World Heritage reference number:
337
Why it matters for exams: Kaziranga is asked about both as a World Heritage property and as rhino habitat, and the Brahmaputra floodplain link explains why its grassland, not forest, is the headline habitat.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Alluvial grassland Alluvial grassland — Grassland growing on silt laid down by a river in flood.
Background
"Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty" is on the UNESCO World Heritage List under cultural criteria (iii) and (iv), with a date of inscription of 2024 and reference number 1711. UNESCO's description reads: "Set in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in eastern Assam, the property contains the royal necropolis of the Tai-Ahom. For 600 years, the Tai-Ahom created moidams (burial mounds) accentuating the natural topography of hills, forests and water, thus forming a sacred geography." Ninety moidams – hollow vaults built of brick, stone or earth – of different sizes are found within the site, and the record covers 600 years from the 13th to the 19th centuries CE. The vaults held the remains of kings and royalty, at times with queens, servants and grave goods. The property area is 96.5 ha, with a buffer zone of 793.7 ha. Living Tai-Ahom ritual practices of ancestor worship continue at the Charaideo necropolis.
Criteria:
(iii)(iv)
Property area:
96.5 ha
Buffer zone:
793.7 ha
Moidams found within the site:
Ninety
Date of Inscription:
2024
World Heritage reference number:
1711
Why it matters for exams: This is the newest World Heritage property named for Assam, and it is the only Indian one that rests on a mound-burial tradition, which makes both the dynasty and the site name easy to test.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Moidam Moidam — A hollow vault of brick, stone or earth under a mound, used for Ahom royal burials.
Necropolis Necropolis — A large burial ground, especially one belonging to an ancient city or dynasty.
Background
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas records that the roots of India's petroleum industry trace back to 1867, when the first oil well was drilled in Digboi, Assam, and that this discovery marked the inception of the country's exploration and production activities. The establishment of the Indian Oil Corporation in 1959 heralded a structured approach to refining and distribution. At present India has nineteen Public-Sector Undertaking (PSU) refineries, three Private-Sector refineries, and one Joint Venture refinery. The country's refining capacity increased from 215.066 Million Metric Tons per annum (MMTPA) in April 2014 to 256.816 MMTPA in April 2024. India's recoverable reserves are given as 651.8 million metric tons of crude oil and 1,138.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas within its sedimentary basins.
Year the first oil well was drilled in Digboi, Assam:
1867
Public-Sector Undertaking refineries at present:
nineteen
Private-Sector refineries at present:
three
Refining capacity in April 2024:
256.816 MMTPA
Refining capacity in April 2014:
215.066 Million Metric Tons per annum (MMTPA)
Why it matters for exams: Assam's claim on India's petroleum history is a standing question, and the refinery counts give the examiner an easy arithmetic step on top of a place name.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
In plain words
MMTPA Million Metric Tons per annum — The unit in which a refinery's yearly crude processing capacity is stated.
Upstream Upstream activities — Exploration and extraction of crude oil and natural gas, as against refining and selling.