Daily edition · Sunday

UPSC Current Affairs, 11 October 2026

12 stories from the news of the day, each in short with why it matters for Prelims and Mains. Practise their UPSC-style questions and take the daily quiz in CAShorts.

DefencePrelimsGS2

INS Sahyadri reaches Vladivostok for India-Russia naval exercise INDRA 2026

Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri reached Vladivostok, Russia, on 10 October 2026 for Exercise INDRA 2026, a bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy and the Russian Federation Navy from 13 to 18 October. A harbour phase comes first, followed by coordinated operations at sea. The Ministry of Defence tied the deployment to India's MAHASAGAR vision.
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EconomyGS3Prelims

Special Notified Zones: DGFT redefines who may trade rough diamonds

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade on 9 October 2026 amended Para 4.49 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023. Foreign diamond-mining companies, their sightholders, and brokers or auction entities covered by Entry 13F of Schedule IV of the Income-tax Act, 2025 may import rough diamonds into Special Notified Zones and auction, sell or re-export them under Customs supervision.
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Sci-TechPrelimsGS3

C-STROKE ischaemic stroke atlas released; IIT Madras brain-mapping centre dedicated

On 11 October 2026 the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre (SGBC) at IIT Madras and released C-STROKE, a human ischaemic stroke atlas of over 1,000 annotated microscopic sections from a stroke-affected brain. The SGBC aims to map more than 100 human brains, foetus to old age, into cellular-resolution 3D atlases.
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EconomyGS3Prelims

Draft National Steel Policy: 604 MT capacity, cleaner steel by 2047

The Ministry of Steel has posted a draft National Steel Policy – Vision 2047 to replace the 2017 policy. It targets 604 million tonnes of crude steel capacity by 2047, against 220 million tonnes in 2025-26, and a cut in emission intensity from 2.54 to about 1.54 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel.
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DefencePrelimsGS2

India, UK navies hold Exercise KONKAN-26 off Plymouth

The Indian Navy and the Royal Navy are holding Exercise KONKAN-26, their annual bilateral maritime exercise, off Plymouth, United Kingdom, from 8 to 15 October 2026. Frigate INS Trishul has arrived for it. Its sea phase covers air, surface and sub-surface drills. The Defence Ministry links it to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the India-UK Vision 2035.
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PolityGS2Prelims

Supreme Court: detain peaceful protesters only by procedure established by law

A two-judge Supreme Court Bench, at a special Sunday sitting on 11 October 2026, directed in an interim order that peaceful, unarmed protesters in Delhi be detained only by procedure established by law. It ordered a Section 163 BNSS prohibitory notice around the Supreme Court taken down, and Metro, rail and internet kept normal. The case returns on 13 October.
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PolityGS2Prelims

Delhi internet suspensions: how the Telecommunications Act, 2023 governs shutdowns

The Ministry of Home Affairs approved suspending mobile internet within 4 km of Delhi's Janpath–Kartavya Path crossing for 24 hours from 10 pm on 9 October 2026, ahead of a Jantar Mantar protest. A second order covered 500 metres around at least eight temporary jails on 10 October. The first invoked the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and its 2024 suspension Rules.
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PolityGS2Prelims

Right to protest: Supreme Court lets authorities regulate, not halt, Delhi transit

The Supreme Court on 9 October 2026 ordered that authorities may regulate, not halt, Metro and rail services before a Delhi protest; the Delhi Metro cut station closures from 57 to 45. The Union home ministry suspended mobile internet near temporary jails at eight locations on 10 October. A plea against the detentions was listed for a special Sunday sitting.
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EconomyGS3Prelims

DGTR opens anti-dumping probe into Penicillin G imports from China

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into Penicillin G (Pen-G) and its salts imported from China. The applicant, a domestic producer that revived Pen-G manufacture under the PLI scheme after about three decades, alleges material retardation to the domestic industry. The DGTR found sufficient prima facie evidence of dumping.
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EnvironmentPrelimsGS2

NBA disburses Rs 2.02 crore Access and Benefit-Sharing funds to States

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has disbursed Rs 2.02 crore of Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) money, paid by seven seed companies for using crops such as rice, tomato and okra, to 27 States and 3 Union Territories. Where individual benefit claimers could not be identified, shares followed each crop's cultivation area. The top 10 States received Rs 1.43 crore.
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World & IRPrelimsGS1

Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Panama on the Pacific Ring of Fire

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck central Panama on 9 October 2026, centred near Pitaloza Arriba in Herrera province at a shallow depth of about 10 km. The US Geological Survey first put it at 8, then 7.6. A 6.6 quake followed that afternoon, damage was concentrated in three central provinces, and the Panama Canal kept operating.
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DefencePrelimsGS3

Navy's Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel 'Shreyas' launched at GRSE, Kolkata

Yard 3040 'Shreyas', a Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel (NGOPV) for the Indian Navy, was launched at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, on 10 October 2026. Eleven NGOPVs of about 3,000 tonnes are on order since March 2023: seven from Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and four from GRSE. Their roles include maritime surveillance, search and rescue and anti-piracy.
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