Polity Current Affairs for UPSC
Every Polity story from the daily editions, newest first, each in short with why it matters for Prelims and Mains. Page 5 of 5.
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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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PolityGS2Prelims
Naming and renaming airports: State proposal, Union Cabinet decision
Why in news: On 9 October 2026, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved a proposal to rename Noida International Airport at Jewar.
An airport in India is named or renamed by the Union Cabinet, on the State Government's recommendation backed by a State Legislative Assembly resolution. The procedure is a policy the Civil Aviation Ministry stated in Parliament. The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has now proposed renaming Noida International Airport, Jewar.
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PolityPrelimsGS3
NIA invokes Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016 over attack on Indian pilot abroad
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on October 9, 2026 registered a case under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 over the September 30 attack on the Indian captain of flydubai flight 1073. The Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the probe. Since 2019, the NIA can investigate scheduled offences committed abroad against Indian citizens.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
External Affairs Standing Committee seeks public technology strategy document
The Departmentally Related Standing Committee on External Affairs, in its 17th Report presented to the Lok Sabha Speaker on September 25, 2026, recommended that the Ministry of External Affairs prepare a public Technology Vision and Strategy Document. It also recommended an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism on technology diplomacy chaired by the Ministry. The report's 51 recommendations are advisory.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
Form 7 for voter-roll deletions: Election Commission caps filings at 10
The Election Commission of India on October 9, 2026 capped Form 7 applications, which object to a name's inclusion in the electoral roll or seek its deletion, at 10 per elector in the claims and objections period and five a month during continuous updation, online or offline. False complaints attract Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
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PolityGS2Prelims
50% reservation ceiling: MP High Court voids 27% OBC quota
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 9, 2026 struck down the State's 2019 law raising reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 14% to 27%. It held the State had not shown the exceptional circumstances needed to cross the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court. OBC reservation in public services and higher education stays at 14%.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
Standing Committee seeks computer-based NEET-UG, NTA accountable to Parliament
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports presented its report on reforming the National Testing Agency (NTA) to the Rajya Sabha Chairman on October 9, 2026. It recommended a Computer-Based Test for NEET-UG, government-owned centres in every district and a framework making the NTA accountable to Parliament. Of the NTA's 39 sanctioned posts, 41% are vacant.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Backward Class quota in local bodies: Supreme Court rejects 34% plea
The Supreme Court on October 9, 2026 dismissed Andhra Pradesh's petition against a High Court ruling that struck down its orders giving Backward Classes 34% reservation in rural local bodies and 33.33% in urban ones. The High Court had held on October 1 that total reservation crossed the 50% ceiling and the State's survey was no empirical inquiry.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Section 163 BNSS: how prohibitory orders work and their limits
Why in news: Section 163 was imposed in New Delhi district before protests planned for October 10-11, 2026, after Delhi Police refused permission for the gathering.
Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lets an Executive Magistrate order people to refrain from an act when immediate prevention is needed to stop danger to life, obstruction or a disturbance of public tranquillity. It replaced Section 144 of the CrPC in 2024. It was imposed in New Delhi district before protests planned for October 10-11, 2026.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Article 21 speedy trial: victims may move High Court, Supreme Court rules
The Supreme Court ruled on 24 September 2026 that a victim, like the accused, has a right to a speedy trial and may ask the High Court to expedite it under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. It set aside a Delhi High Court order imposing Rs 10,000 costs and set a one-year trial deadline.
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PolityGS2Prelims
BNSS does not define detention; Article 22 safeguards apply on arrest
Delhi Police detained Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders during protests in New Delhi on October 6 and again on October 7, 2026. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 does not define detention. Article 22 requires an arrested person to be told the grounds and produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.
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PolityGS2Prelims
MeitY urges social media platforms to curb manipulated, out-of-context content
MeitY on October 8, 2026 urged social media platforms to curb false, manipulated or out-of-context content, such as old photos and videos shown as current events. It said such posts can disturb public order and asked platforms to prioritise complaints from authorised government agencies. IT Rules already require takedowns within three hours of a court order or government notice.
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PolityGS2Prelims
West Bengal voters seek Supreme Court inquiry into SIR deletions
Five West Bengal voters struck off the electoral roll during the special intensive revision (SIR) moved the Supreme Court on October 8, 2026, seeking a Special Investigation Team inquiry. They say they got no notice before deletion and no speaking order, and their appeals have been pending for months. Kolkata and Howrah municipal elections are tentatively due in late November.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Home Ministry brings CAPF Act into force amid Supreme Court challenge
The Home Ministry brought the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Act, 2026 into force on October 8. Its rules must fill 50% of Inspector General and at least 67% of Additional Director General posts in five forces through IPS deputation. The Supreme Court has listed serving officers' challenges to the Act, with related contempt petitions, for October 15.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Chhattisgarh High Court seeks State reply on anti-conversion law challenge
The Chhattisgarh High Court gave the State three weeks to reply to an interim-relief plea challenging its 2026 anti-conversion law and Rules, an October 8 report said. Petitioners argue that the provisions burden conscience, religious freedom, privacy and personal liberty, and seek a stay on public-notice and objection requirements for proposed conversions.
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Supreme Court to test State DGP appointment rules against Prakash Singh ruling
The Supreme Court on October 8 asked amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran to examine whether States' rules for appointing police chiefs breach its 2006 Prakash Singh judgment. On the Centre's complaint that Jharkhand DGP Tadasha Mishra's appointment failed that test, the court issued her notice. Jharkhand argued West Bengal and Bihar also flouted the ruling. The next hearing is November 3.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
Centre reconstitutes Press Council, nominating 13 journalists as members
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on October 7, 2026 notified 13 working journalists, six editors and seven others, as members of the Press Council of India, taking it to 27 of 28 members. A statutory body under the Press Council Act, 1978, it can censure newspapers and news agencies; television and digital media lie outside its jurisdiction.
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Odisha sets up commission to study backward classes' political representation
The Odisha government on Wednesday constituted a commission, headed by retired High Court judge Pramath Patnaik, to study the political representation of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs). It will assess their share in rural and urban populations and in local bodies. The move precedes panchayat and urban local body polls due early next year.
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Seven-judge SC bench closes legislative privilege case, keeps free-speech questions open
A seven-judge Supreme Court bench led by CJI Surya Kant on October 6 closed as infructuous the 2003 case on whether legislative privilege under Article 194(3) overrides free speech. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had withdrawn, in July 2004, its resolution sentencing five journalists of The Hindu and Murasoli's editor to 15 days' imprisonment. The questions of law remain open.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
CJI says Supreme Court never approved changes to voter Form 6
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on October 5 that the Supreme Court had not approved any modification to Form 6, the voter enrolment form. A three-judge bench hearing petitions against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar issued notices to the Election Commission and the Centre, and will examine who altered the form once the records are produced.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Bengal SIR tribunal judges flag gaps in Election Commission portal
A 6 October report says judges from over a dozen of West Bengal's 19 SIR tribunals flagged portal gaps in 11 August minutes. They reported difficulties serving notices, uploading documents, holding virtual hearings and restoring deleted voters. EC data submitted on 18 September recorded 1.26 lakh disposals of 38.31 lakh appeals by 10 September.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
Uttarakhand publishes post-SIR voter roll, about 8 lakh fewer electors
Uttarakhand published its final electoral roll on October 3 with 71,58,949 electors, about 8.02 lakh fewer than when the Special Intensive Revision began in June. Booth Level Officers will now visit voters missing from the pre-SIR roll and help eligible ones enrol, under an Election Commission special drive across 20 states and Union Territories.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Law Ministry notifies rules for National Tribunals Commission and tribunal selection
The Union Law Ministry has notified rules under which the new National Tribunals Commission will select chairpersons and members for 16 tribunals and appellate bodies. Issued on September 30, the rules standardise eligibility and recruitment, create an inquiry mechanism for misconduct complaints, and fix monthly pay at ₹2.5 lakh for the commission chairperson and ₹2.25 lakh for members.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Split SC Bench sends Election Commissioners law challenge to CJI
A two-judge Supreme Court Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma split on September 23 over whether it could decide the challenge to the 2023 law on appointing Election Commissioners. Justice Sharma accepted the Union's plea for a five-judge Bench under Article 145(3); Justice Datta rejected it. Both placed the matter before the Chief Justice.
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MHA orders 48-hour reporting of cases against AGMUT officers
The Home Ministry has sought48-hour reporting of cases, arrests, adverse court orders or probe-agency action involving IAS,IPS,DANICS and DANIPS officers in AGMUT segments, The Indian Express reported, citing a source at a review meeting. The report also describes an October15 deadline for pending disciplinary-case details, scrutiny of prolonged leave and recovery of excess payments under applicable rules.
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Allahabad HC rules hookah service barred in designated smoking areas
The Allahabad High Court on September 29 held that hookah cannot be served in designated smoking areas, dismissing petitions by restaurant owners. It ruled that a 2017 amendment to the smoking rules made the bar absolute, whether the hookah holds tobacco or herbs, and that the right to trade must yield to non-smokers' right to clean air.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
Election Commission freezes Trinamool Congress name and symbol
The Election Commission of India froze the All India Trinamool Congress's name and its 'Flowers and Grass' symbol on September 17, 2026, ruling in a 14-page order that rival groups led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy both claim the party and the dispute needs substantive determination. Both factions have been allotted new names and symbols pending the decision.
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PolityPrelimsGS2
FCRA Amendment Bill 2026 would vest lapsed NGOs' foreign assets in government
The proposed FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026 provides that when an NGO's FCRA certificate is cancelled, surrendered or lapses, its foreign contributions and assets created from them vest in a government-appointed designated authority. Assets return if registration is restored in time; otherwise they may be sold, proceeds going to the Consolidated Fund of India. A Joint Parliamentary Committee is examining it.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Supreme Court holds UP Gangsters Act 'stillborn'
A two-judge Supreme Court Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran ruled on August 20 that the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 is 'stillborn' and proceedings under it cannot survive. The Court held that the Act created no offence, leaving the determination of who is a gangster to executive-made rules and gang charts.
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PolityGS2Prelims
Centre proposes Article 371K for Ladakh
The Union government has proposed a new Article 371K giving Ladakh special constitutional safeguards, after an in-principle understanding with the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance. It would create a directly elected Union Territory-level body with powers over land, culture and language, forests and natural resources.
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