5 November 2026
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Punjab to send the Centre its report on a scheduled offence within 72 hours, and asked the Centre to decide within a week whether the National Investigation Agency should take over the Lovely Professional University campus violence case. A Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor was hearing a public interest litigation by a student seeking a transfer of the investigation. Punjab Police told the Court in a status report that material had emerged to apply Section 66F of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deals with cyber terrorism, and the provision was added. Section 66F is listed in the Schedule to the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, which makes it a scheduled offence under Section 2(g) of that Act. Section 6 of the NIA Act then requires the State to forward the information to the Centre, which decides whether the agency investigates. The Court noted the State's affidavit did not show that these provisions had been considered. The next hearing was fixed for November 17.
Bench:
Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor
Provision added:
Section 66F, Information Technology Act, 2000
Time given to the State:
72 hours
Next hearing:
November 17
Why it matters for exams: Section 66F of the IT Act on cyber terrorism, the idea of a scheduled offence under Section 2(g) and the Section 6 route by which the NIA takes over a case are standard Polity and Security questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NIA National Investigation Agency — India's central agency for terror and other scheduled offences.
PIL Public Interest Litigation — A petition filed in the public interest rather than for a private grievance.
5 November 2026
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a single bail bond and surety bond can cover around 120 cheque bounce complaints against the same person. Justice Sanjay Vashisth passed the order for a woman employee facing complaints under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, of which about 85 are pending in the Kaithal Sessions Division and the rest at Kurukshetra and Karnal. Bonds of Rs 10 lakh will hold good for all the cases, provided a separate bail order is passed in each. The surety need file only one common affidavit, which trial courts may accept without a fresh affidavit in every case. She must still appear before the trial courts when required, and a court may begin forfeiture proceedings if she does not. The Court relied on the Supreme Court's ruling in Girish Gandhi v. State of Uttar Pradesh and said bail conditions must be reasonable and proportionate, not so heavy that compliance becomes impossible.
Judge:
Justice Sanjay Vashisth
Provision:
Section 138, Negotiable Instruments Act
Bond amount:
Rs 10 lakh
Precedent relied on:
Girish Gandhi v. State of Uttar Pradesh
Why it matters for exams: Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act on dishonour of cheques, and the Supreme Court's Girish Gandhi ruling on common sureties, are durable Law and Banking facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
NI Act Negotiable Instruments Act — The law on cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes, whose Section 138 punishes dishonour of a cheque.
1 November 2026
Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated two completed projects of the Chandigarh Administration and laid foundation stones for seven more, together worth about Rs 258 crore. The completed works, worth about Rs 80 crore, are a Government High School at Sarangpur costing about Rs 12 crore and a Chandigarh Transport Undertaking depot-cum-workshop at Raipur Kalan costing about Rs 68 crore. The seven upcoming projects add up to about Rs 178 crore. They include 192 Type-III houses at the Chandigarh Armed Police Complex in Dhanas at about Rs 84 crore and a pedestrian subway linking PGIMER and Panjab University at about Rs 12 crore. The rest are a boys' hostel at Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, a gymnasium hall at Post Graduate Government College Sector 46, an upgrade of the Sector 7 sports complex, a police station building in Sector 49 and fifteen permanent security check posts at entry points. The function was held at Tiranga Park in Sector 17, with UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria present.
Total value:
about Rs 258 crore
Projects inaugurated:
two, worth about Rs 80 crore
Foundation stones laid:
seven, worth about Rs 178 crore
Largest single project:
192 Type-III houses at Chandigarh Armed Police Complex, Dhanas, about Rs 84 crore
Why it matters for exams: PGIMER and Panjab University as central institutions in Chandigarh, and the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking as the UT's bus service, are durable institution facts.
UPSCSSC
In plain words
PGIMER Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research — A central medical institute at Chandigarh.
CTU Chandigarh Transport Undertaking — The union territory's public bus service.
5 November 2026
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, which sits at Chandigarh, has read the age limit in the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 as something that must hold on the day the service is actually taken. Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya ruled that a woman past 50 cannot go through embryo transfer even if the embryos were made and frozen while she was still within the limit, because the procedure has two stages and the limit governs both. Section 21(g) of the Act permits ART for a woman below 50 and a man below 55. Each spouse is measured against their own ceiling, the Court said, rather than the couple being treated as a single unit. So a woman below 50 may take ART services in her own right even where her husband has passed 55. Veena Devi and another v. Union of India led the batch, and six connected petitions were disposed of with it.
Judge:
Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya
Provision:
Section 21(g), ART (Regulation) Act, 2021
Age limits:
below 50 for a woman, below 55 for a man
Lead case:
Veena Devi and another v. Union of India
Why it matters for exams: The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and its age limits of 50 for women and 55 for men are frequently asked in Polity and Social Issues.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ART Assisted Reproductive Technology — Medical techniques such as IVF that help conception outside the natural process.
IVF In Vitro Fertilisation — Fertilisation done outside the body, after which an embryo is transferred to the womb.
6 November 2026
The Chandigarh Administration has fixed the dates for Phase-II of Census 2027 in the union territory. Self-enumeration, in which a household fills in its own details, will run from January 10 to 24. Population enumeration by enumerators will follow from January 25 to February 28. A revisional round is set for March 1 to 5. UT Chief Secretary H Rajesh Prasad chaired the third State-Level Census Coordination Committee-cum-Principal Census Officer conference on Phase-II, and asked departments to finish preparations on time and to push self-enumeration through awareness campaigns. Dr Navjot Khosa, Director of Census Operations for Chandigarh, presented the administration's state of readiness. Phase-I of the census covered houselisting and the housing census.
Self-enumeration:
January 10 to 24
Population enumeration:
January 25 to February 28
Revisional round:
March 1 to 5
Director of Census Operations, Chandigarh:
Dr Navjot Khosa
Why it matters for exams: Census 2027's two phases, the houselisting phase and population enumeration, and the posts of Principal Census Officer and Director of Census Operations are standard Polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SLCCC State-Level Census Coordination Committee — The committee that coordinates census work in a State or union territory.
6 November 2026
The Union Home Ministry has extended the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2026 to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, with certain modifications. The power used for this was Section 87 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. Prisoners serving sentences in Chandigarh, including life terms, can now be moved to jails in other States or Union Territories. Such a move needs the consent of the receiving government and an order of the Chandigarh administration. Undertrial prisoners may also be shifted for reasons of security, law and order or public interest, with the consent of the governments concerned and the approval of the court trying the case. Prisoners from elsewhere may likewise be brought to Chandigarh with the consent of the governments concerned
Issued under:
Section 87, Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966
Issued by:
Union Home Ministry
Why it matters for exams: Section 87 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, the status of Chandigarh and prison law are regular Polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
4 November 2026
The Election Commission has ordered a Special Summary Revision of voter rolls in Chandigarh and five other States and Union Territories. The other five are Sikkim, Odisha, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. January 1, 2027 is the qualifying date for enrolment. Polling stations must be rearranged by November 20, and draft rolls are due on November 30. Claims and objections can be filed until December 30. Final rolls will appear on January 21, 2027. Unlike the Special Intensive Revision, this is a yearly update of existing rolls, and advance applications are allowed for those turning 18 on April 1, July 1 or October 1, 2027
Qualifying date:
January 1, 2027
Draft rolls:
November 30
Final rolls:
January 21, 2027
Why it matters for exams: The Election Commission, roll revisions and the qualifying age for voters are recurring Polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank
Background
Chief secretaries from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have been invited by the Centre to a meeting on November 16 about enlarging the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The building cannot simply be extended, because it stands inside the Capitol Complex of Chandigarh, designed by Le Corbusier. That complex became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016, and the High Court is an integral part of it. This expansion therefore needs clearance from UNESCO, even after the Centre has approved it. The World Heritage Committee, at its 45th session in Riyadh in 2023, put the expansion on hold, citing possible harm to the outstanding universal value of the site, and UNESCO also turned down a plan for underground parking there that year. The plan was then redesigned so that the skyline of the heritage building stays as it is, and the modified version has gone to UNESCO for clearance. The inscription is shared across countries, so the Chandigarh Administration held talks with six partner nations at Geneva to seek their consent for any change
World Heritage site since:
2016
Designer:
Le Corbusier
Clearance needed from:
UNESCO
Why it matters for exams: The Capitol Complex, Le Corbusier and the UNESCO World Heritage process are standing questions on art, culture and heritage.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank