25 October 2026
Jogen Chowdhury, one of the best known painters of modern India, has died in Kolkata at the age of 87. He graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata and studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1967. His work is described as blending traditional Indian aesthetics with a modernist sensibility, and he was part of the new phase of modern Indian art that emerged in the 1960s. He served as curator of the art gallery at Rashtrapati Bhavan and in 2019 opened Charubasona, a museum to house his own body of work. He was a former member of the Rajya Sabha.
Age at death:
87
Museum he opened:
Charubasona
Why it matters for exams: Names of leading modern Indian artists and the institutions they studied at are regular art and culture questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
23 October 2026
The India Meteorological Department has forecast that a low pressure system over the Bay of Bengal may deepen into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay and then move west-north-westwards towards the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast. If it reaches cyclonic storm strength it will be named Arnab, a name contributed by Bangladesh to the North Indian Ocean list kept under the regional naming system coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization and the India Meteorological Department. Arnab means ocean in Bengali. Thunderstorms are forecast for south Bengal including Kolkata from October 28, with gusty winds up to 40 kmph over South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura. Fishermen have been advised not to go to sea.
Cyclone name:
Arnab
Name contributed by:
Bangladesh
Wind speed over south Bengal:
40 kmph
Why it matters for exams: Cyclone naming, the countries on the North Indian Ocean panel and the role of the IMD are repeatedly asked.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
IMD India Meteorological Department — India's national weather service, which also names cyclones for the North Indian Ocean region.
20 October 2026
The Calcutta High Court, in Tapas Kumar Dey v. The State of West Bengal, has declined to monitor the investigation into the Chorebagan stampede of October 17 during Durga Puja and has left the State free to nominate a retired High Court judge to chair an enquiry commission into the failures, mismanagement and negligence behind it. The Court said whether a serving judge can be spared to head the Commission is a matter for the Chief Justice's discretion, and that if none can be spared the State may name a retired judge. A commission of this kind is appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, which lets a government inquire into a definite matter of public importance.
Case:
Tapas Kumar Dey v. The State of West Bengal
Head of the proposed commission:
a retired High Court judge
Why it matters for exams: The Commissions of Inquiry Act and the standing of the Calcutta High Court are common law and polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PIL Public Interest Litigation — A case filed in a constitutional court for the benefit of the public rather than the petitioner alone.
9 October 2026
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on October 16 a plea to give priority to appeals by voters removed from the electoral rolls of the Kolkata and Howrah municipalities in the Special Intensive Revision carried out by the Election Commission. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Prashant Bhushan, who said nearly 1.70 lakh appeals are pending in the tribunals for these two municipalities. The West Bengal municipal elections are due in November, and the Court is to consider whether the appellants can vote in them. The Chief Justice said appeals filed by persons seeking the deletion of voters could be taken up at the last stage.
Appeals pending:
1.70 lakh
Municipalities concerned:
Kolkata and Howrah
Why it matters for exams: The Election Commission's powers over electoral rolls and the Articles behind them are asked in every polity paper.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SIR Special Intensive Revision — A house-to-house revision of the electoral roll ordered by the Election Commission.
16 October 2026
A paper in Sarvekshana, the journal of the National Statistical Office, finds that free and subsidised goods given under government welfare schemes raised living standards for about 220 million people in India in 2022-23. The study uses unit-level data from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23. Once the value of in-kind transfers is counted, 15.8% of the total population moved into a higher consumption class, made up of 18.8% of rural and 8.4% of urban residents. West Bengal gained the most of the 18 major states, with 40.5% of its population moving up, and it led in both rural areas at 46.5% and urban areas at 24.9%. Gujarat at 3.7% and Kerala at 4.6% gained least. The Gini coefficient fell from 0.266 to 0.261 in rural India and from 0.314 to 0.309 in urban India.
People helped in India:
220 million
West Bengal population moving up:
40.5%
All-India share:
15.8%
Why it matters for exams: The NSO, the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey and the Gini coefficient are core economy and statistics topics.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
HCES Household Consumption Expenditure Survey — The large national survey that measures what Indian households spend.
NSO National Statistical Office — The body under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation that runs India's large sample surveys.
10 October 2026
The West Bengal government has granted permission for 12,400 new Durga Pujas and all of them have been given state financial assistance. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced this at a Debipaksha programme at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Each Durga Puja committee in the State receives a grant of Rs 1 lakh, and disbursement was to begin on October 11. More than 200 committees declined the grant. About 45,000 Durga Pujas were held in the State in the previous year. Durga Puja is the largest public festival of West Bengal and is held in the Bengali month of Ashwin.
New Durga Pujas permitted:
12,400
Grant per committee:
Rs 1 lakh
Pujas held last year:
about 45,000
Why it matters for exams: Durga Puja of Kolkata is on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, and the festival's calendar and scale are asked in art and culture.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The Union Cabinet approved the renaming of Kolkata Port as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.
The Kolkata Port is the first Major Port as well as the only riverine port of the country.
It came to be governed by a Trust on 17th October, 1870, on appointment of the Commissioners for Improvement of the Port of Calcutta as per Act V of 1870.
It features at Serial Number 1 in Part I, Major Ports, of The First Schedule of the Indian Ports Act, 1908 and is governed by the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963.
The Board of Trustees passed a resolution for the new name, which was announced at the inaugural ceremony of the Sesquicentenary Celebrations of the port.
The port works through two systems, the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), and serves eastern and northeastern India.
It also supports trade access for landlocked neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bhutan.
Other Major Ports renamed earlier include Nhava Sheva Port Trust as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, the Tuticorin Port Trust as V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, Ennore Port Limited as Kamarajar Port Limited and Kandla Port as Deendayal Port.
Status:
First Major Port and the only riverine port of the country
Governed as a Trust from:
17th October, 1870
Governing Act:
Major Port Trusts Act, 1963
Dock systems:
Kolkata Dock System and Haldia Dock Complex
Why it matters for exams: West Bengal questions often begin with the port, and the pairs of old and new Major Port names are a favourite matching question.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
KDS Kolkata Dock System — One of the two dock systems of the port, the other being the Haldia Dock Complex.
Background
Visva-Bharati was founded by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 at Shantiniketan in West Bengal.
It is the oldest Central University in the country.
Visva-Bharati was declared to be a Central University and an Institution of National Importance by an Act of Parliament.
The Prime Minister is the Chancellor of the University.
The University followed the pedagogy devised by Gurudev Tagore, though it gradually evolved into the format in which modern universities developed elsewhere.
The Prime Minister was to address its centenary celebrations by video conferencing, with the Governor of West Bengal and the Union Education Minister also present.
Founded by:
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
Founded in:
1921
Status:
Oldest Central University in the country and an Institution of National Importance
Chancellor:
The Prime Minister
Why it matters for exams: Visva-Bharati is the standard example of a Central University created by a special Act, and the Chancellor question is asked year after year.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Visva-Bharati Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan — The university Tagore founded in Bengal, later made a Central University by Parliament.
Background
The Indian Statistical Institute was established in 1931 by the statistician Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, and has its headquarters in Kolkata.
It was declared an institution of national importance through the Indian Statistical Institute Act of 1959.
The ISI Council is the governing body of the Institute.
Under the provisions of that Act the Central Government, acting through the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, constitutes committees at regular intervals to review the Institute's performance and to make recommendations about its future course.
The 4th Review Committee was headed by Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, a former Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and proposed 61 recommendations on governance, academic programmes, research priorities, infrastructure and financial sustainability.
The Institute works in statistics, mathematics, computer science, economics and interdisciplinary research, and will reach its centenary in 2031.
Statistics Day is marked at the Institute on the birth anniversary of its founder.
Established:
1931
Founder:
Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
Headquarters:
Kolkata
Governing body:
ISI Council
Centenary:
2031
Why it matters for exams: The founder, the Act and the governing council of the Indian Statistical Institute are asked whenever a paper touches national statistics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ISI Indian Statistical Institute — The Kolkata based institute of national importance for statistics, founded by Mahalanobis.
Background
The total mangrove cover in West Bengal, including the Sundarbans, is 2,119.16 sq km as per the Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, against 2,097 sq km in ISFR 2013.
The gain is attributed to afforestation and eco-restoration under schemes such as MISHTI and the convergence of CAMPA with MGNREGS.
Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notifications are the regulatory tool that curbs destructive activities and promotes natural regeneration.
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) projects, implemented in coordination with the State Government of West Bengal, involve mangrove afforestation, strengthening of saline embankments and promoting alternative livelihoods.
The Royal Bengal Tiger is conserved there under Project Tiger in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve, with anti-poaching camps, habitat improvement and monitoring using camera traps and satellite telemetry.
Local people take part through Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs).
The Sundarbans also works as a natural buffer against cyclones, and the preparation of a comprehensive management plan for the long-term conservation of the Sundarbans biosphere is among the initiatives taken.
The 28th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority was held at the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in West Bengal.
Mangrove cover in West Bengal, ISFR 2023:
2,119.16 sq km
Mangrove cover in West Bengal, ISFR 2013:
2,097 sq km
Tiger programme:
Project Tiger, in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve
Community body:
Joint Forest Management Committee
Why it matters for exams: The Sundarbans is the standard example of a mangrove ecosystem in Indian papers, and the abbreviations of the coastal and forest management tools are asked directly.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CRZ Coastal Regulation Zone — The notified zone along the coast where construction and other activities are restricted.
JFMC Joint Forest Management Committee — A village level committee that manages forest land together with the forest department.
Background
The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is India's first multipurpose river valley project, and works under the Ministry of Power.
It supplies power in West Bengal and Jharkhand.
In the financial year 2025-26 it generated 40,103 million units in all, of which 39,719 million units were thermal, 351 million units hydel and 33.3 million units solar.
It delivered 714 million units of green energy across West Bengal and Jharkhand at regulated green tariffs.
Contracts were awarded for large-scale floating solar projects at Maithon and at Konar Dam.
Its capacity expansion includes Koderma TPS and Raghunathpur TPS, and a joint venture with Coal India Limited for development of 2x800 MW units at Chandrapura.
It runs captive coal mines and has commissioned an advanced Load Despatch Centre for real-time grid monitoring.
Status:
India's first multipurpose river valley project
Ministry:
Ministry of Power
States served:
West Bengal and Jharkhand
Floating solar sites:
Maithon and Konar Dam
Why it matters for exams: Every list of India's river valley projects begins with the Damodar Valley Corporation, and its two States and its dams are standard matching material.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
DVC Damodar Valley Corporation — The corporation that runs dams and power stations in the Damodar basin across West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Background
National Waterway-1 (NW-1) runs along the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia.
It has been developed with fairway, navigational aids, jetties and terminals with mechanized equipment for loading and unloading of cargo.
NW-97, the Sunderbans Waterways, is also operational.
The River Information System (RIS), which aims to streamline the exchange of information between waterway operators and users, has been commissioned on NW-1 and is operational on the Haldia-Farakka and Farakka-Patna stretches.
Navigability is monitored through regular hydrographic surveys and channel inspection, and fortnightly hydrographic surveys are conducted to determine the available depth and possible shoal formations.
River Notices placed on the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) website carry the Least Available Depth (LAD) and clearances at bridge structures.
NW-2 by contrast runs on the Brahmaputra from Dhubri to Sadiya.
NW-1 route:
Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system, Allahabad to Haldia
Sunderbans Waterways:
NW-97
NW-2 route:
River Brahmaputra, Dhubri to Sadiya
Authority:
Inland Waterways Authority of India
Why it matters for exams: National Waterway numbers and the rivers they follow are a classic matching question, and NW-1 is the one that ends at Haldia.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
IWAI Inland Waterways Authority of India — The authority that develops and maintains the National Waterways.
LAD Least Available Depth — The shallowest depth found in a stretch, which decides how loaded a vessel can be.