31 October 2026
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is being held at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat's Narmada district, where the Statue of Unity stands. The day marks the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was born on 31 October. The Prime Minister's Office said this year's celebration carries the theme Vande Mataram. The Ekta Parade brings together the Central Armed Police Forces, state police and central police organisations, with the focus on their work against Left Wing Extremism. The National School of Drama is to stage a presentation called Naxal Mukt Bharat with about 2,000 artists drawn from 126 districts once affected by that violence. A cultural programme with about 5,000 artists is to present classical and folk traditions. Tableaux built on the Vande Mataram theme are to show the culture and development of the states and union territories.
Anniversary marked:
151st
Theme:
Vande Mataram
Artists in the cultural show:
About 5,000
Districts represented in Naxal Mukt Bharat:
126
Why it matters for exams: Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, the date 31 October, Sardar Patel and the Statue of Unity's location are repeat questions in Polity and Modern History papers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
NSD National School of Drama — India's national theatre training institute, based in New Delhi.
30 October 2026
The twenty-fourth instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi was released from Banaskantha district in Gujarat. About nineteen thousand crore rupees went to farmer families across the country in this round. PM-KISAN pays an eligible land-holding farmer family 6,000 rupees a year in three equal instalments of 2,000 rupees each. The money is sent straight to bank accounts, so no state or middle agency handles it. The scheme is run by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It is a central sector scheme, which means the Union government meets the whole cost. The release was part of a set of farm and dairy programmes announced in north Gujarat the same day.
Instalment:
24th
Amount released:
About ₹19,000 crore
Annual benefit per family:
₹6,000 in three instalments
Why it matters for exams: The amount PM-KISAN pays, the number of instalments and the ministry that runs it are standard scheme questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
PM-KISAN Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi — Central sector income support scheme for land-holding farmer families, begun in 2019.
30 October 2026
The Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre was dedicated at Bhildi in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. It stands on 127 acres and works on the Kankrej cattle breed, which belongs to this part of north Gujarat. The Prime Minister's Office described it as the country's first facility of its kind for that breed. The centre is expected to speed up breed improvement by ten to twenty times over ordinary methods. An embryo transfer and in-vitro fertilisation laboratory works alongside the cattle farm. Kankrej is a draught and milch breed valued for heat tolerance and for its long, lyre-shaped horns. The dedication came with foundation stones for two Banas Dairy bio-CNG plants in the same district.
Area:
127 acres
Breed:
Kankrej
Expected speed-up in breed improvement:
10 to 20 times
Why it matters for exams: Indian cattle breeds and the state they come from are standard Agriculture questions; Kankrej belongs to north Gujarat and Rajasthan's border tract.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
BBBRC Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre — Cattle breeding and research centre at Bhildi in Banaskantha, Gujarat.
30 October 2026
Foundation stones were laid for two extensions of the Ahmedabad Metro. Phase-2A runs more than six kilometres from Koteshwar Road to the airport and will have five stations. Phase-2B runs 3.3 kilometres from GIFT City to Shahpur with three stations. The network is built and run by Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited. GIFT City, at Gandhinagar, is India's first International Financial Services Centre, so the link ties the financial district to the Ahmedabad metro network. The two extensions were among the projects announced in Gujarat along with a highway widening and farm infrastructure works.
Phase-2A length:
Over 6 km, five stations
Phase-2B length:
3.3 km, three stations
Why it matters for exams: GIFT City being India's first International Financial Services Centre, and GMRC as the metro's builder, are the lasting facts here.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
GIFT City Gujarat International Finance Tec-City — Planned financial district at Gandhinagar that houses India's first International Financial Services Centre.
30 October 2026
The Ahmedabad-Mehsana road in Gujarat is to be widened from four lanes to eight. The road is State Highway 41 and the work is costed at about 2,600 crore rupees. It carries traffic between Ahmedabad and the north Gujarat town of Mehsana, through a belt of dairy and industrial units. The foundation stone was laid along with two Ahmedabad Metro extensions the same day. A state highway is a road built and maintained by the state government, unlike a national highway, which the Union government takes charge of. Mehsana district is also where the Modhera Sun Temple stands, with the Rani ki Vav stepwell in the neighbouring district of Patan, so the corridor serves tourism as well.
Road:
State Highway 41
Widening:
Four lanes to eight
Cost:
About ₹2,600 crore
Why it matters for exams: The difference between a state highway and a national highway, and where Mehsana sits, are the durable points.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
30 October 2026
Foundation stones were laid for two bio-CNG plants of Banas Dairy in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. The plant at Tharad will take 75 metric tonnes of cattle dung a day and the one at Radhanpur 100 metric tonnes a day. Bio-CNG, also called compressed biogas, is made by cleaning the biogas that comes from the breakdown of organic waste. A dung-based plant gives the dairy's member farmers a second income from an animal waste they otherwise dump. Banas Dairy is the milk union of Banaskantha district and is part of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, which sells under the Amul brand. The two plants were announced on the same day as a cattle breeding centre and farm infrastructure projects in the district.
Tharad plant feedstock:
75 metric tonnes of cattle dung a day
Radhanpur plant feedstock:
100 metric tonnes a day
Why it matters for exams: Amul's parent federation, GCMMF, and what compressed biogas is are both frequently asked.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CBG Compressed Biogas — Purified biogas compressed for use as vehicle or cooking fuel.
GCMMF Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation — Apex body of Gujarat's district milk unions; it markets milk under the Amul brand.
30 October 2026
Foundation stones were laid in Gujarat for 4,030 new child-friendly anganwadi centres, and 361 completed centres were opened. The whole set carries an investment of 800 crore rupees and is expected to serve more than four lakh people. An anganwadi is the village-level centre of the Integrated Child Development Services, the country's main programme for children under six and for pregnant and nursing mothers. It provides supplementary nutrition, immunisation support, health check-ups, referral services and pre-school education. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development runs the programme, which the states implement. The announcement came with farm, dairy and transport projects in the same part of the state.
New centres:
4,030
Completed centres opened:
361
Investment:
₹800 crore
People expected to benefit:
Over 4 lakh
Why it matters for exams: ICDS, the age group it covers and the ministry that runs it are repeat questions in schemes and welfare.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
ICDS Integrated Child Development Services — Programme begun in 1975 that runs anganwadi centres for children under six and for mothers.
30 October 2026
Five hundred and twenty one projects built with the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund were dedicated in Gujarat. Their total cost is about 4,950 crore rupees. They include cold storages, warehouses, silos, polyhouses, greenhouses and processing centres. The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a central financing facility that lends for post-harvest management and community farming assets, with an interest subvention and a credit guarantee. It comes under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Work also began the same day in twelve horticulture clusters covering about 1.46 lakh hectares, which the government said would benefit over 1.3 lakh farmers. Two of the north Gujarat clusters are built around potato.
Projects dedicated:
521
Total cost:
About ₹4,950 crore
Horticulture clusters:
12, over about 1.46 lakh hectares
Why it matters for exams: The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, what it finances and the ministry behind it are standard scheme questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
AIF Agriculture Infrastructure Fund — Central financing facility for post-harvest and community farming infrastructure.
30 October 2026
Bharat Parv 2026 was inaugurated at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat and runs until 15 November. The festival puts the traditions of the states and union territories on show, with folk performances, food, handicrafts and tourism stalls. Alongside it, an Ekta Prakash Parv light display was opened. It has a 530-metre illuminated road called the Valley of Flowers and a 180-metre glow tunnel. The display uses more than 1.5 crore LED lights. Ekta Nagar, formerly Kevadia, sits in Narmada district next to the Sardar Sarovar dam and the Statue of Unity, and a Narmada Aarti was held the same evening. The festival is part of the programme around Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.
Festival runs until:
15 November 2026
Illuminated road:
530 m, called Valley of Flowers
Glow tunnel:
180 m
LED lights used:
Over 1.5 crore
Why it matters for exams: Ekta Nagar's old name Kevadia, its district and the river beside it are the lasting facts a paper can use.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
31 October 2026
Projects worth more than four hundred crore rupees are being taken up at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat's Narmada district. The inaugurations include a sewage and water treatment plant, facade lighting, an upgraded Narmada Ghat, a hotel of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, and the Rainforest, Unity and Eco Trail attractions. Foundation stones are to be laid for the Gora-Bhandra road, an integrated zero-waste solid waste management project, eco-tourism at Khalwani and an integrated Cactus and Butterfly Garden. Ekta Nagar is the town built around the Statue of Unity and has been turned into a tourism cluster. The Vaman Vriksha Vatika, a bonsai garden on the site, is also part of the day's visit. The works come on the day of the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas parade at the same place.
Value of projects:
Over ₹400 crore
Why it matters for exams: IRCTC's full form and the fact that Ekta Nagar is a planned tourism town around the Statue of Unity are the durable facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
IRCTC Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation — Public sector company of the Indian Railways that runs catering, ticketing and tourism services.
Background
Dholavira is a Harappan city on the dry island of Khadir, near Kutch in Gujarat, ringed by the Great Rann of Kutch. The settlement was occupied from 3000-1500 BCE and spreads over about 100 hectares. It was discovered in 1968 and counts among the well-preserved urban settlements of South Asia from that age. The walled city holds a heavily fortified castle, a ceremonial ground, and streets and houses of differing quality that point to a layered social order. Its cemetery carries cenotaphs of six types, and digs have turned up bead workshops and objects of copper, shell, stone, terracotta, gold and ivory. The city is known for one of the earliest planned water conservation systems and for signboards written in the Indus script. Dholavira sits on the Tropic of Cancer and is larger than Lothal, the other well known Harappan site in Gujarat. UNESCO placed it on the World Heritage List at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, held at Fuzhou in China.
Period of occupation:
3000-1500 BCE
Extent of the city:
100 hectares
Island the city stands on:
Khadir
Year the site was discovered:
1968
World Heritage Committee session:
44th session
Types of cenotaphs in the cemetery:
cenotaphs of six types
Why it matters for exams: Dholavira's water system, its place on the Tropic of Cancer and its World Heritage inscription are standard Harappan questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Cenotaph Cenotaph — A memorial raised where no body is buried.
Background
Lothal is a town of the Indus Valley Civilisation in Gujarat, about 90 kilometres from Ahmedabad. The site dates back to 2400 BCE and worked as a port linked to the Gulf of Khambhat. Its dock, measuring 214 x 36 meters, had a water locking arrangement that let boats come and go with the tide. The town held a citadel on raised platforms, a large warehouse, a bead-making factory and a lower town where artisans and traders lived. Beads of semi-precious stone found here, among them amethyst and onyx, point to trade links with West Asian civilisations. An Archaeological Museum beside the excavation keeps pottery, tools, ornaments and seals from the site. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is building the National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal under the Sagarmala Programme. That complex is being developed at a cost of around Rs 4500 crores and is planned with fourteen galleries and four theme parks.
Size of the dock:
214 x 36 meters
Age of the site:
2400 BCE
Gulf the port was linked to:
Gulf of Khambhat
Programme funding the complex:
Sagarmala Programme
Distance from Ahmedabad:
90 kilometres
Cost of the complex:
Rs 4500 crores
Galleries planned:
fourteen galleries
Why it matters for exams: Lothal's dock, its link to the Gulf of Khambhat and the Sagarmala Programme behind the complex there are standard Harappan and infrastructure questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Citadel Citadel — The raised, fortified quarter of a Harappan town.