30 October 2026
Meghalaya's East Garo Hills district has completed fifty years, and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma attended the golden jubilee celebration at its headquarters town, Williamnagar. The State honoured the leaders of the statehood and district movement, among them Captain Williamson Sangma, Choronsing Sangma and Lolith R Sangma. The Chief Minister opened the upgradation of 13.989 km of internal roads in Williamnagar, costing ₹26.92 crore under the World Bank-funded Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project. He also opened the widening of the Rongrenggre-Simsanggre Nengkra road from km 10 to km 16 at ₹15.98 crore under RIDF XXVIII, and a 4.40 km interlocking concrete block road in the town at ₹4.70 crore. The day's projects also included the Rongon bridge, meant to improve links with rural areas, and eight units of MIG housing at ₹3.61 crore.
Williamnagar internal roads:
13.989 km, ₹26.92 crore
Rongrenggre-Simsanggre Nengkra road:
₹15.98 crore, RIDF XXVIII
MIG housing:
8 units, ₹3.61 crore
Why it matters for exams: Williamnagar is the headquarters of East Garo Hills, Captain Williamson Sangma was Meghalaya's first Chief Minister, and the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project is World Bank-funded.
UPSC
In plain words
RIDF Rural Infrastructure Development Fund — A NABARD fund that lends to States for rural roads, irrigation and other rural works.
Williamson Sangma Captain Williamson A. Sangma — Leader of the Meghalaya statehood movement and the State's first Chief Minister.
29 October 2026
Meghalaya has held a State Level Conference of Principal Census Officers and senior officers for Phase-II of Census 2027, which is the population enumeration phase. Dr. Shakil P. Ahammed, IAS, Chief Secretary of Meghalaya, and Dr. Pooja Pandey, IAS, the State Nodal Officer for Census, took part. A district level training programme for census functionaries on the phases of Census 2027 had been notified two days earlier. An Indian census is run in two phases: house listing and housing census first, and population enumeration after it. District Collectors and Deputy Commissioners act as Principal Census Officers for their districts, so the State conference is where the enumeration machinery is set in order.
Phase-II:
Population Enumeration
Chief Secretary:
Dr. Shakil P. Ahammed, IAS
State Nodal Officer for Census:
Dr. Pooja Pandey, IAS
Why it matters for exams: Phase-II of Census 2027 is population enumeration, and Meghalaya's Chief Secretary is Dr Shakil P. Ahammed, both fixed facts.
UPSC
In plain words
Principal Census Officer Principal Census Officer — The district officer, usually the Collector or Deputy Commissioner, who runs the census within a district.
25 October 2026
The Prime Minister named Khanduli village of Meghalaya for its millet promotion in the 139th episode of Mann Ki Baat, which aired on 25 October 2026. Khanduli lies in West Jaintia Hills district. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Jaintia Hills has been working since 2021 to revive finger millet there, through training, demonstrations and technical guidance. What began with five or six farmers on less than 500 square metres now covers roughly 50 to 60 farmers and about 10 hectares. Darapbiang Mulieh set up Mulieh Enterprise and brought out finger millet and baby millet powders, and Sitrian Surong is credited with helping keep millet cultivation alive in the village. A Krishi Vigyan Kendra is a farm science centre funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
Mann Ki Baat episode:
139th
Area under millet now:
About 10 hectares
District:
West Jaintia Hills
Why it matters for exams: The Krishi Vigyan Kendra is the ICAR farm science centre, and Khanduli in West Jaintia Hills is the village named in the 139th Mann Ki Baat episode.
UPSC
In plain words
KVK Krishi Vigyan Kendra — A district farm science centre funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to train farmers and demonstrate new practices.
Finger millet Finger millet — A hardy millet, called ragi in much of India, grown on poor soils and valued for calcium and iron.
29 October 2026
Meghalaya's Arts and Culture Department is holding a State-Level Living Heritage Festival to showcase the State's village crafts and traditions. The festival is held under Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, and the venue is the State Central Library premises in Shillong. Janjatiya Gaurav Divas is observed on 15 November, the birth anniversary of the tribal leader Birsa Munda, and was begun in 2021 to mark the contribution of tribal communities. Meghalaya's three main communities, the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia, carry craft traditions in cane and bamboo, weaving and pottery, and a festival of this kind is how a State department puts those living crafts before the public rather than in a museum case.
Venue:
State Central Library premises
Organising department:
Arts and Culture Department
Why it matters for exams: Janjatiya Gaurav Divas is observed on 15 November, the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, and the Arts and Culture Department is Meghalaya's organising department.
UPSC
In plain words
Janjatiya Gaurav Divas Janjatiya Gaurav Divas — A day observed on 15 November, Birsa Munda's birth anniversary, to mark tribal pride and contribution.
Birsa Munda Birsa Munda — A tribal leader of the Chhotanagpur region who led the Ulgulan revolt against colonial rule.
28 October 2026
Meghalaya is getting ready for the golden jubilee edition of Wangala, the festival usually billed as the 100 Drums Wangala Festival. Over fifty years it has gathered the Garo community to offer thanks to Misi Saljong once the harvest is in. For the jubilee the government says 1000 drums will sound on the field instead of a hundred. The theme is Our Culture, Our Identity, and the dates are 11 to 14 November 2026, in West Garo Hills. Wangala is a thanksgiving held after harvest, and the drum, struck in long lines of dancers, is the instrument at its heart. In Garo belief Misi Saljong is the deity of the sun and of the harvest.
Drums at jubilee:
1000
Dates:
11 to 14 November 2026
Place:
West Garo Hills
Why it matters for exams: Wangala is the Garo post-harvest thanksgiving festival offered to Misi Saljong, and is known as the 100 Drums Wangala Festival.
UPSC
In plain words
Wangala Wangala — The Garo post-harvest thanksgiving festival of Meghalaya, marked by long rows of drummers and dancers.
Misi Saljong Misi Saljong — The sun and harvest deity of Garo belief, to whom Wangala is offered.
26 October 2026
Meghalaya has widened the list of services guaranteed under The Meghalaya Right to Public Services Act, 2020. The Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department has notified a further entry, at Serial No. 241, on the list the State maintains under Section 3(2) of that Act. The order carries Notification No. PER(ARC)15/2024/48 and was released on 26 October 2026. A right to public services law lets a citizen claim a listed service inside a fixed time, names the officer who must provide it, and names the officer who hears an appeal when the time runs out. Section 3(2) is the provision the government uses to say which services fall inside the guarantee, so each new entry stretches the Act further. The same department notified appointments of members to the Meghalaya Public Service Commission at Shillong that day.
Act:
The Meghalaya Right to Public Services Act, 2020
Section:
3(2)
Notification:
PER(ARC)15/2024/48
Why it matters for exams: The Meghalaya Right to Public Services Act, 2020 and its Section 3(2) list of notified services are the durable facts here, and the list now runs to 241.
UPSC
In plain words
Right to public services Right to public services — A State law that fixes a time limit for delivering listed government services and gives an appeal if it is missed.
MPSC Meghalaya Public Service Commission — The State's constitutional recruitment body, seated at Shillong.
28 October 2026
Meghalaya Police want the public to treat 112 as the one emergency number to call. The force has asked that Dial 112 be carried in place of the fire service numbers people have been using, 101, 2227000 and 2520400. The purpose given is to make the unified emergency helpline familiar. India has folded its separate numbers for police, fire and ambulance into the single short number 112, which can be dialled from any phone and is routed to the nearest response centre. The older numbers are still the ones many people remember, which is why a State force has to keep repeating which single number to keep in mind.
Unified number:
112
Fire service numbers replaced:
101, 2227000, 2520400
Why it matters for exams: 112 is India's single unified emergency number, and 101 is the fire service number it replaces.
UPSC
In plain words
112 Emergency Response Support System number — India's single emergency number for police, fire and ambulance, reachable from any phone.
29 October 2026
Meghalaya has put out a public advisory about the Phase III gravity main of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme going into testing and commissioning. The line is a 300mm dia DI gravity main that carries water for the Mawpat Reservoir. Its critical stretch begins at Keating Road near Lady Keane College and ends at Polo, passing Police Bazar and Jail Road along the PWD road. The work starts from 30.10.2026 onward. A gravity main carries water downhill without pumping, which suits a hill capital such as Shillong. Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya, and the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme is the city's main piped supply, serving the surrounding areas as well.
Pipe:
300mm dia DI gravity main
Reservoir:
Mawpat Reservoir
Testing from:
30.10.2026
Why it matters for exams: The Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme and its Mawpat Reservoir identify the piped supply of Meghalaya's capital, Shillong.
In plain words
Gravity main Gravity main — A pipeline that carries water downhill by gravity alone, with no pumping.
Background
The closing celebration of the West Khasi Hills district golden jubilee has begun at Nongstoin, the district headquarters. Hema Nayak, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of West Khasi Hills, attended the inaugural programme along with the Superintendent of Police and officers of several departments. West Khasi Hills is one of Meghalaya's districts in the Khasi Hills, and a golden jubilee marks fifty years since it was carved out. In Meghalaya the Deputy Commissioner is the head of district administration, the post that other States usually call District Collector or District Magistrate. The Khasi Hills, along with the Jaintia Hills and the Garo Hills, make up the three traditional hill divisions of the State.
District headquarters:
Nongstoin
Deputy Commissioner:
Hema Nayak, IAS
Why it matters for exams: Nongstoin is the headquarters of West Khasi Hills, and in Meghalaya the district administration is headed by a Deputy Commissioner.
In plain words
Deputy Commissioner Deputy Commissioner — The head of district administration in Meghalaya and much of the North East, equal to a District Collector elsewhere.