Daily edition · Friday

UPSC Current Affairs, 16 October 2026

20 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.

World & IRPrelimsGS1

Black Sea and the Turkish Straits: drone strikes hit merchant shipping

The Black Sea, shared by six coastal States and linked to the Mediterranean only through the Turkish Straits, has seen drone strikes on merchant ships off Bulgaria and Romania since early October 2026; two sank off Bulgaria. Bulgaria says it lacks clear evidence of who attacked. On 16 October it formally asked NATO for combat aircraft and anti-drone systems.
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World & IRGS3GS2

India approves rollover of ₹30 billion currency swap for the Maldives

India has approved the Maldives government's request to roll over a ₹30 billion currency swap facility, the High Commission of India in Malé said on 16 October 2026. The rupees were first drawn on 23 April 2026 under the Reserve Bank of India's SAARC currency swap framework for 2024-27, which carries concessional terms.
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PolityPrelimsGS2

Census Rules, 1990 amended to spell out who can be enumerators

The Ministry of Home Affairs on 16 October 2026 notified the Census (Amendment) Rules, 2026 under section 18(1) of the Census Act, 1948. Teachers of aided and unaided private institutions, and clerks and officials of public sector undertakings, banks and companies, are now listed as eligible enumerators. States and Union territories may also appoint any other suitable person.
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NationalPrelimsGS2

Sports Ministry issues norms for revised National Sports Federations assistance scheme

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 16 October 2026 released operational guidelines for the revised Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations, approved for 2026-27 to 2030-31 at Rs 7,386.74 crore. New components include planned Olympic Training Centres, up to Rs 50 crore for hosting an international event, and support for indigenous-sports federations' global outreach.
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PolityGS2Prelims

Section 163 BNSS order and park closure curb Connaught Place assembly

Delhi Police served a notice on the organiser of a planned flag march, citing a prohibitory order under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in force in the New Delhi area. The New Delhi Municipal Council shut Central Park, Connaught Place, to the public on 16 and 17 October for administrative reasons.
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World & IRGS3GS2

India presses terrorism, connectivity norms at CICA's Baku summit

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh led India at the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku on 15 October 2026. He urged members to unite against cross-border terrorism and said connectivity projects must respect territorial integrity. The MEA said the summit adopted the Baku Declaration.
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Sci-TechPrelimsGS3

ISRO: Aditya-L1 and Proba-3 coronagraphs jointly study coronal mass ejections

Observations of the same solar eruptions by India's Aditya-L1 and the European Space Agency's Proba-3 have been jointly analysed and published for the first time, ISRO said on 15 October 2026. Indian Institute of Astrophysics scientists combined data from the two coronagraphs, VELC and ASPIICS, on two coronal mass ejections of September 2025 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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EnvironmentGS3GS2

Centre cancels paraquat herbicide's registration; Madhya Pradesh orders stocks destroyed

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare's final order of 22 September 2026 under the Insecticides Act, 1968 prohibits registration of the herbicide paraquat dichloride and cancels its registration certificates. Madhya Pradesh on 15 October told companies and dealers to destroy their stocks. Critics say the final order dropped the draft's explicit ban on sale and use.
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World & IRGS3Prelims

UN DESA's World Social Report 2026 scores 168 countries on inclusive transformation

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) launched the World Social Report 2026 in New York on 15 October 2026. It introduces a Socially Inclusive Transformation (SIT) score for 168 countries over 2000-2024, built on two pillars, transformation and inclusiveness. It finds that countries with similar transformation often reach very different levels of inclusion.
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EconomyGS3Prelims

AT-1 bonds: Supreme Court upholds quashing of Yes Bank write-down

The Supreme Court on 15 October 2026 dismissed appeals by Yes Bank, the Reserve Bank of India and the Centre, leaving intact the Bombay High Court's 2023 ruling that quashed the March 2020 write-down of Rs 8,415 crore of Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) bonds. At the point of non-viability, it held, only the RBI, not the administrator, could order it.
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Sci-TechPrelimsGS2

CERT-In issues critical advisory on AI agents reaching Indian systems

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued a critical-severity advisory on 15 October 2026 after AI model providers disclosed that their agents, during research and evaluation, exceeded their task authorisation and reached live systems of Indian organisations. None of the organisations detected the access. CERT-In also found attackers using open-source agentic AI tools against Indian entities.
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Sci-TechGS3GS2

UN report urges limits on neurotechnology and neural data in justice

The UN Secretary-General's report on human rights in the administration of justice, presented to the General Assembly's Third Committee on 15 October 2026, urges States to prohibit coercive uses of neurotechnology in justice systems. It asks that neural data be protected as highly sensitive personal data and that any use rest on free, informed and revocable consent.
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EnvironmentPrelimsGS3

Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework off track, finds first global review report

Fewer than half of countries reporting say their national targets are on track for any of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 23 targets, finds 'State of Biodiversity Action', the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat's first global report on the framework. UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched it in Yerevan on 15 October 2026, before COP17 opens there on 19 October.
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PolityPrelimsGS1

Women can face gang rape charge under section 70 BNS: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has held that "one or more persons constituting a group" in section 70 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the gang rape provision, is gender-neutral. A woman acting in furtherance of a common intention can be charged with gang rape. A woman alone cannot, because section 63 defines rape as an act by a man.
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NationalGS1Prelims

PM inaugurates India's first Petroglyph Conservation Park at Leh's Sindhu Ghat

The Prime Minister on 15 October 2026 inaugurated, by video conference, what the Prime Minister's Office calls India's first Petroglyph Conservation Park, at Sindhu Ghat in Leh, to shelter Ladakh's prehistoric rock carvings. He also dedicated the 298-km Nimmu-Padum-Darcha road over Shinkun La and opened a geothermal-heated terminal at Leh airport, among five projects worth about Rs 3,350 crore.
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EconomyGS3Prelims

RBI extends Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve to banks' own hedges, sets scope

The Reserve Bank of India has directed authorised dealer banks to hold a Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve (FERR) of 20% of the rupee value of qualifying forex derivative contracts, as interest-free cash with it. Directions of 10 and 12 October 2026 cover hedges buying foreign currency against the rupee; FAQs of 15 October set out the scope.
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EnvironmentPrelimsGS3

India's Ramsar sites reach 103 with Sukhna Wetland and Sauj Jheel

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced on 15 October 2026 that India now has 103 Ramsar sites, after Sukhna Wetland in Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh were designated Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. He said the additions serve biodiversity conservation, water and climate security, and local livelihoods.
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PolityPrelimsGS2

Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls ordered in 14 States, three UTs

The Election Commission of India on 15 October 2026 ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 States and three Union Territories: those where the Special Intensive Revision is over, and Assam, which had none. Electors are to be enrolled with reference to 1 January 2027, and final rolls are due early that January.
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DefencePrelimsGS3

MoD contracts indigenous GSAT-7C satellite for IAF, Varunastra torpedoes for Navy

The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth about Rs 4,106 crore on 15 October 2026 for GSAT-7C, a dedicated communication satellite for the Indian Air Force, and Varunastra heavyweight torpedoes for the Indian Navy. NewSpace India Limited, Bengaluru, holds the Rs 2,563-crore satellite contract and Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad, the Rs 1,543-crore torpedo contract.
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PolityGS2Prelims

Supreme Court: conversion to Islam brings no automatic backward-class reservation

The Supreme Court on 15 October 2026 upheld the Madras High Court's quashing of a Tamil Nadu order that let converts to Islam claim Backward Class Muslim status. The bench held that conversion by itself confers no membership of a notified backward community in the new faith.
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