Daily edition · Sunday

UPSC Current Affairs, 18 October 2026

7 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.

EconomyGS3GS2

Ethanol blending: 2026-27 tender shuts out sugar-based feedstocks

The ethanol tender for supply year 2026-27, issued on 16 October 2026 by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited for the oil marketing companies, seeks no ethanol from sugarcane juice, sugar, sugar syrup or B-heavy molasses, citing directions for zero sugar diversion. It invites about 1,100 crore litres and reportedly cuts the maize-ethanol price to Rs 68.86 a litre from Rs 71.86.
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NationalGS2

NPPA notifies 30% trade-margin cap on 137 anti-cancer drugs

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority on 17 October 2026 notified an order capping trade margins at 30% on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs, invoking Paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. Manufacturers must report revised prices within seven days; lower prices apply from 9 November. The NPPA estimates MRPs could fall by up to 70%.
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World & IRPrelimsGS1

Deep magnitude-6.9 quake jolts Kamchatka on the Pacific Ring of Fire

A deep earthquake of preliminary magnitude 7.0, later put at 6.9 by the US Geological Survey, struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on 16 October 2026, about 135-140 km below the surface. No tsunami alert was issued: the US National Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was too deep to raise one. Kamchatka sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
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World & IRPrelimsGS2

First tranche of India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement finalised, in legal drafting

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on 15 October 2026 that the first tranche of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement has been finalised and is in legal drafting. India hopes to operationalise it once it gains a competitive advantage over peer countries, he said. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said signing is tied to the new US tariff structure.
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EnvironmentPrelimsGS1

PRODES satellite survey puts Brazil's Amazon clearing at a series low

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) on 16 October 2026 estimated deforestation in the Legal Amazon at 3,335 sq km for August 2025 to July 2026, 41.8% below the year before and, per INPE, the lowest since its PRODES series began in 1988. Clearing in the Cerrado fell 23.8% to 5,516.69 sq km, also a series low.
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EconomyGS3Prelims

SEBI recasts Closing Auction Session; expiry settlement moves to VWAP

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised its Closing Auction Session (CAS) framework on 15 October 2026. From 7 December 2026, the cash segment's closing auction will run from 3:30 to 3:40 pm and most derivatives will trade until 3:45 pm. Expiring index and stock derivatives will settle on the last 30 minutes' volume-weighted average price.
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NationalPrelimsGS2

DGMA bars Indian seafarers from Sarawak's inland and coastal vessels

The Directorate General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) on 8 October 2026 barred licensed recruitment agencies from placing Indian seafarers on vessels operating only in the inland, riverine, coastal or port-limit waters of Malaysia's Sarawak Region. Its Circular 66 of 2026, issued under section 301 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025, cites recurring fatal accidents involving young Indian seafarers.
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