Current Affairs Nov 1,2026

Belagu Civil Services | UPSC Civil Services (Prelims + Mains) perspective
Sources: The Hindu and The Sunday Express .
Tags: TH = The Hindu, IE = Indian Express. GS-1 Society/Geography; GS-2 Polity, Governance, IR; GS-3 Economy, Environment, Sci-Tech, DM; PT = Prelims fact.

GS-2: Polity and Governance

1. "Public impeachment" of the CEC and the SIR controversy TH p1, p4IE p1, p2

What happened: On 31 October the INDIA bloc held a symbolic "public impeachment" of CEC Gyanesh Kumar at Mallikarjun Kharge's residence. Former Speaker Meira Kumar presided and the resolution was passed by a show of hands. It has no legal or constitutional force.

• Six charges (Kharge): conspiring to steal elections; deleting about 13.2 crore voters through Special Intensive Revision (SIR); "rewriting" Form 6 without Parliament's approval; centralising electoral rolls through ERONET/ECINET; excluding the other two Election Commissioners from decisions; acting at the behest of the PM and Home Minister.
• Opposition's stand: Rahul Gandhi said "every other institution" was closed to them and the CEC should be tried; Kharge said removal notices signed by 193 MPs were rejected by the presiding officers of both Houses (April 2026, per IE). Kharge cited Article 326 (universal adult franchise). The Opposition also demanded repeal of the law that gives the CEC protection from legal proceedings.
• BJP's response (Sambit Patra): a "mock Parliament" ridicules institutions; SIR was done 10 times under Congress rule; about 12 crore voters had shifted, of whom about 6 crore have filled Form 6; about 2.8 crore names removed as deceased and nearly 1 crore as duplicates; Supreme Court's 27 May 2026 judgment addressed the Form 6 issue; ECI decisions on SIR were unanimous; the 2023 law only laid down procedure for protection that already existed.
• Related developments: (a) Uttar Pradesh CEO deactivated ECINET logins of all computer assistants in ERO offices (about 806 operators, hired via an outsourced firm) after the Opposition alleged details of 13,150 voters in Pilibhit Sadar were altered with EPIC numbers unchanged; re-verification of entries since the final roll (10 April) was ordered on 25 October. (b) In West Bengal, 16.10 lakh appeals were filed against inclusion of voters after SIR; parties question who authorised them. (c) An RTI reply reportedly said no file recording the decision-making on SIR exists (as claimed by an activist at the event).

Mains angle: independence of constitutional bodies; transparency in voter-roll revision and the burden of proof on citizens; technology and centralisation of rolls (ECINET); legitimacy of extra-parliamentary "symbolic" institutions. Give a balanced view: the Opposition cites closure of institutional remedies and large deletions; the government points to constitutional protection of the office, courts as the remedy, and prior SIRs.

2. Content takedowns and the IT Rules amendment (FAQ) TH p8

• Context: a spate of posts, reels and accounts withheld in India on Instagram, Facebook and X amid protests over SIR and demands for the CEC's resignation. MeitY issued advisories on 8 October (enhanced diligence on public-event content) and 10 October (to Meta: review feeds and recommendation systems, curb content that could cause public disorder).
• IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026: under amended Rule 3(1)(d) an intermediary must remove or disable specified unlawful content within 3 hours (earlier 36 hours) of a court order or a reasoned intimation from an authorised government officer. Shorter grievance timelines and labelling rules for synthetically generated (AI) content were also introduced.
• Legal basis: Sec 69A, IT Act 2000 (blocking on grounds like sovereignty, security of State, public order); Rule 3(1)(d), IT Rules 2021; Sec 79(3)(b) (loss of safe harbour if the intermediary fails to act on notice).
• Concern: many removals now happen under platforms' own community standards, which shifts recourse from courts to the platform grievance officer and then the Grievance Appellate Committee (about 60-90 days), while accounts stay blocked.

Mains angle: Art 19(1)(a) vs 19(2); transparency and proportionality; Shreya Singhal v. UoI (2015) upheld Sec 69A with safeguards and struck down Sec 66A; private censorship by platforms; need for reasoned, reviewable orders.

3. Manipur: Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact TH p3

• COCOMI (Meitei umbrella body) rallied in Imphal seeking protection for indigenous people and scrapping of the SoO agreement; Naga bodies marched in Chandel and Senapati. This followed an ambush in which militants attacked 14 Meitei men and killed three.
• For the first time since the 2023 violence, security forces took control of a camp meant for Kuki-Zo militants, after only 1 of 159 registered cadres was found present; all 14 SoO camps are to be audited. The SoO pact expired on 4 September without renewal.
• Background: tripartite SoO (Centre, State, militant groups) dates to 2008; cadres stay in designated camps with weapons stored under joint monitoring.

Mains angle: internal security, ethnic conflict management, conditionality in ceasefire/peace agreements, federal coordination.

4. Mekedatu project and inter-state water disputes TH p2

• Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar said 2,500 acres (including forest land) have been identified as alternative land for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir; only about 500 acres of farmers' land will be acquired. Details will be uploaded on the forest-clearance portal; progress is hoped for by the next Budget.
• Project: reservoir near Kanakapura on the Cauvery to store 66 tmc, generate about 400 MW and supply drinking water to Bengaluru; it would help Karnataka regulate the 177 tmc it must release downstream. Tamil Nadu fears reduced flows.
• Static: Art 262 (adjudication of inter-state river disputes); Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956; Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (2007); Supreme Court's 2018 verdict (TN's share cut to 177.25 tmc); Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).

5. Short notes (Polity) THIE

• "Secular civil code": at Ekta Nagar (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Patel) the PM listed next national goals: securing borders, stopping infiltration and "demographic changes", and moving towards a "secular civil code"; he also warned against "dimagi (intellectual) Naxals" and said Maoism has been broken. Link: Art 44 (UCC as a DPSP), Uttarakhand UCC Act 2024, Goa Civil Code.
• Scientific temper: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan (Meghalaya) said scientific temper under Art 51A(h) must extend beyond labs to rational citizenship, and urged moving from "us vs they" to the Preamble's "We, the People".
• Poland (comparative): President Nawrocki accused PM Tusk of a "forcible takeover" of the Constitutional Tribunal after its president was suspended. Useful example of executive-judiciary conflict and rule of law.

GS-2: International Relations

6. Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Atlanta (31 Oct) TH p3IE p6, p10

• Third Quad FMM this year (New Delhi in May, Manila in July), held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with S. Jaishankar, Toshimitsu Motegi (Japan) and Penny Wong (Australia).
• Outcomes: intent to provide over $85 million for trusted AI access in the Indo-Pacific; US to give $10 million for facilities recovering critical minerals from waste in India and ASEAN; first-ever Quad Business Leaders' Forum; second Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission (25 Sep to 7 Oct, aboard an Indian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel); first-ever Quad Fuel Security Forum (September); concern over online scam centres and transnational crime.
• Language to note: "grave concerns" over economic coercion through arbitrary export restrictions and non-market overcapacity; commitment to navigational rights in the Strait of Hormuz, Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb in line with UNCLOS, without tolls.
• A Quad Leaders' Summit is planned for mid-November on the sidelines of the ASEAN-East Asia meetings in the Philippines.

Mains angle: Quad as a "functional" grouping (supply chains, critical minerals, maritime domain awareness, AI); reliability of US commitments under the Trump administration; India's strategic autonomy.

7. Jaishankar at G20 FMM: energy chokepoints IE p5, p6

The EAM flagged "distortions of energy markets through obstacles, sanctions and chokepoints" and called deliberate attacks on energy infrastructure and trade a "calculated strategy to hold prices hostage". Link to India's energy security, import dependence and the rupee story below (GS-3).

8. India-Bhutan: Gelephu Mindfulness City and 108 stupas TH p1, p5

• Buddhist relics of Indian origin will be enshrined in most of the 108 jangchub chortens ("stupas of enlightenment") being built along a 12 km stretch of the Mau Chhu at Gelephu (Project 108). Each chorten: 15 m tall, 108 m apart, about $200,000; about 40,000 volunteers. Relics came from India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Bhutan.
• Marks the spiritual foundation of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), envisioned by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk as a spirituality-driven global economic hub; Gelephu borders Assam's Chirang district. 1 November is Buddha's Descending Day and the King's 18th coronation anniversary.
• Angle: Neighbourhood First, Buddhist soft power (GS-1 art/culture linkage).

9. International in brief THIE

• West Asia: Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned of a "geographically unrestricted" response to any attack; Iran and Qatar held talks in Doha amid US/Israeli threats of renewed strikes after the US midterms (IE: Doha proposed a seven-day US-Iran trust-building plan).
• Ganges Water Treaty (1996, 30 years) expires in December; Bangladesh's NCP convener Nahid Islam wants a fair water-sharing deal and opposes any Indian transit corridor.
• UK and slavery: PM Andy Burnham is open to a formal apology for Britain's role in the slave trade but rules out financial reparations; ahead of CHOGM in Antigua and Barbuda. Shashi Tharoor has argued for atonement for colonialism (India link: indentured labour, 1838-1917).
• Ebola (DRC): Bundibugyo-virus outbreak crossed 5,026 deaths out of 10,351 cases; second deadliest after West Africa 2014-16 (about 11,000 deaths).
• Nepal-India power trade: despite the 26 August flash flood, Nepal exported about 1,262 MU (over ₹725 crore) to India between 27 Aug and 27 Oct, nearly a third of FY2025-26 exports; trade is seasonal (exports in monsoon, imports in dry winter). IE p13
• Elections abroad: Lula wins Brazil's run-off (25 Oct); Serbia's Student List wins 141 seats vs 103 for SNS; Israel's Arab parties win a record 19 seats (turnout 77.7%).
• UN: the UN political mission in Somalia ended after a two-year transition, closing over three decades of UN peacebuilding there.
• Gilgit-Baltistan: Pakistan PM ordered fast-tracking of projects; India calls the region illegally occupied.

GS-3: Economy and Energy

10. Rupee slide and RBI's LRS proposals IE p12 (opinion)TH p11

• The rupee has fallen about 7% in 12 months, from 88.84 to 94.95 per US dollar; a barrel of crude valued at $100 now costs ₹9,495 against ₹8,884 a year ago. It also makes gold, foreign travel and education costlier.
• Responses: RBI estimated to have sold $75-80 billion of dollars; a policy-rate hike (to attract rupee-asset inflows); the PM urged people to cut fuel consumption, avoid gold purchases and postpone overseas travel.
• RBI discussion paper (reported): bar resident individuals from remitting under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for real estate, shares, overseas direct investment, foreign bank accounts and loans to NRI relatives; cut the current-account limit (excluding health and education) from $250,000 to $50,000 a year. LRS remittances were about $29 billion in 2025-26.
• The Express opinion ("Panic is no policy") warns of mixed signals from Delhi: panic on one hand, "let the rupee find its floor" on the other.
• Related (TH): export duty on petrol cut to nil; diesel export levy raised to ₹11.5/litre and ATF to ₹11/litre for 15 days; import duty exemption on cotton extended to 31 December; Centre released an additional tax-devolution instalment of over ₹1.09 lakh crore to States (States get 41% of the divisible pool, in 14 instalments a year).

Concepts: depreciation vs devaluation; capital account vs current account; LRS under FEMA; CAD; forward book; trade-off between capital controls and investor confidence. Mains: critically evaluate capital-outflow curbs as a tool to defend the rupee.

11. Ethanol, E100 and flex-fuel (FAQ) TH p8

• The Road Transport Ministry amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 (Rule 115 tables) to include E100 alongside E85. These fuels may be used only in flex-fuel vehicles designed by OEMs; existing vehicle owners need not switch or modify vehicles. The change eases homologation (certification by agencies such as ARAI).
• Status: India reached E20 in 2025, five years ahead of the 2030 target in the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018; from April 2026 all BS-VI vehicles must meet E20 emission standards. Next step: E85/E100 with compatible vehicles and dedicated dispensing.
• Concerns: compatibility of older vehicles; mileage (government estimate about 5% decline; users report more); water absorption and storage; fuel prices not falling (maize procured at about ₹71.86 per litre of ethanol vs about ₹37-40 per litre equivalent for crude at $70/bbl); food vs fuel; water and land use; experts (ICCT) prefer electrification as the cleaner long-term path.
• Analyst data (for answers): about 245 lakh MT crude substituted; over ₹1.44 lakh crore forex saved; over ₹1.04 lakh crore paid to farmers since 2014-15; about 736 lakh MT CO₂ avoided. Challenges: India turned a net maize importer in 2024 (nearly 1 million tonnes); about 3,000 litres of water per litre of ethanol; 240 million legacy vehicles (about 77%). Schemes: JIVAN Yojana (2G ethanol, VGF), GOBARdhan, RUCO (FSSAI), minimum RON 95 for E20.

GS-3: Science and Technology

12. NVS-03 launch and NavIC revival IE p10TH p5, p8

• GSLV-F18 placed NVS-03 into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on the night of 30-31 October. It restores the minimum four-satellite configuration needed for location data after retirements, atomic-clock failures and the failure of NVS-02 (January 2025, thrusters failed to raise it to its final orbit).
• Turnaround of 56 days between successive GSLV missions (GSLV-F17/EOS-05 flew on 4 September); about 80% of the vehicle came from Indian industry. ISRO chairman V. Narayanan called it a component of the "One Nation, One Time" project. Next: NVS-04 in about five months and NVS-05 in about ten months.
• Design fix: NVS-03 flew with "three pyro valves open" (cleared by a committee chaired by former ISRO chief Kiran Kumar) to avoid a repeat of NVS-02's failure; the oxidiser-line pyro valve drive signal had not reached the engine. Achieved perigee 170.31 km vs 170.36 km planned; apogee 38,080 km vs 37,247 km planned.
• Atomic clocks: first-generation IRNSS used imported rubidium clocks (SpectraTime, Switzerland); each NVS satellite carries at least one indigenous rubidium clock (developed by ISRO's Space Applications Centre). NVS-03 flew a mix of imported and indigenous clocks. By July 2025 ISRO said five IRNSS satellites had all clocks dead; IRNSS-1F's last clock stopped in March 2026, leaving three satellites able to give services; at least four are needed.
• NavIC (IRNSS): regional system, services from 2018; covers India and about 1,500 km beyond; 3 geostationary + 4 inclined geosynchronous satellites; Standard Positioning Service (open) and Restricted Service (authorised users); better coverage over valleys and forests than GPS. Two successive PSLV failures had earlier paused launches.

Mains: strategic value of NavIC; dependence on foreign clocks and components; need for a separate operator/regulator for the constellation (The Hindu notes ISRO is both designer and operator).

13. Sci-Tech in brief TH p5, p10

• Epigenetic therapy for hepatitis B (CRMA-1001): reported in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Instead of attacking the virus, it silences viral DNA by methylating cytosines. A CRISPR-based "locator" finds the target sequence and an "effector" adds methyl groups; delivered on an mRNA platform. In mice, three doses left up to 90% of animals with undetectable viral DNA at six months: a functional cure, not elimination; long-term durability untested (phase I/II trial ongoing). Concept: epigenetics vs gene editing (no change in DNA sequence).
• Plant alarm signalling: NIPGR (New Delhi) found the calcium channel CNGC13 helps spread insect-attack alarm signals, besides known GLR channels (PNAS); insect pests cause about 20% of global annual crop losses; potential for crops with natural defence and less insecticide use.
• Fusion: Bengaluru startup Pranos Fusion built PRAGYA, a small tokamak (superconducting magnets, plasma control) and plans to finalise the blueprint of a larger PRANIK in 2027; raised $7.2 million. Concept: fusion (deuterium-tritium → helium + neutron) needs about 100 million °C; tokamak uses magnetic confinement; no chain reaction.

GS-3: Environment and Disaster Management

14. Cyclone Murasu: another cyclone for Andhra Pradesh IE p10TH p2

• Within a week of severe cyclone Arnab, a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify and cross the south Andhra coast between Nellore and Narsapur on 2-3 November as a severe cyclonic storm (winds 100-110 km/h, gusts up to 120). Once formed it will be named Murasu (Tamil for "drum"). Very heavy to extremely heavy rain (115-200 mm or more in 24 hours) is forecast for coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema on 2-3 November.
• Andhra CM N. Chandrababu Naidu asked for monitoring every six hours and announced ₹54,000 per hectare compensation for coconut plantation damage (₹1,500 per uprooted tree) from Arnab.
• Revision: names are drawn from a list agreed by the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones and allotted by IMD (an RSMC); IMD classes: cyclonic storm 62-88 km/h, severe 89-117, very severe 118-165, extremely severe 166-220, super cyclone 221+.

15. Delhi-NCR winter pollution curbs IE p5TH p5

• From 1 November, non-BS-VI petrol and diesel vehicles registered outside Delhi cannot enter the capital until 31 January 2027. About 3.02 crore BS-I to IV vehicles are registered in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan, of which about 48 lakh are in NCR districts (roughly three-quarters two-wheelers).
• CPCB (30 Oct letter) told DPCC and the pollution boards of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan to issue show-cause notices to industries covered by CAQM's revised emission norms that have not ordered air pollution control devices; non-compliance within five days means closure.
• Delhi's average AQI fell from the "poor" range (222-232 on 28-29 Oct) to about 60 on Friday after rain. Link: CAQM (statutory body, 2021), winter action framework (GRAP), BS-VI norms.

16. Doars Rani: the tigress that strayed; Indravati opens IE p10TH Analyst

• Tigress Doars Rani (T-138), 3 years old, was tranquilised in Valmiki Tiger Reserve (Bihar), flown by military aircraft to Hasimara Air Force Station and released in Buxa Tiger Reserve on 2 October from a 2.2-hectare soft enclosure under West Bengal's first tiger relocation programme. She walked about 100 km into Assam's Raimona National Park (Kokrajhar), killing three pigs and four piglets. Bengal wants to capture and return her; Assam is to seek NTCA permission. Precedent: tigress Zeenat (Simlipal) travelled 300 km to Bengal in Dec 2024.
• Buxa (Prelims): Alipurduar district, West Bengal; Tiger Reserve since 1983; about 760 sq km; core area is Critical Tiger Habitat; elephant corridor with Bhutan's Phipsu Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Indravati Tiger Reserve (Bastar, Chhattisgarh; Project Tiger reserve since 1983) is set to open to tourists for the first time in four decades after years of Left-wing extremism restricted access (IE).
• Mains angle: tiger translocation and genetic diversity; inter-state coordination; human-wildlife conflict; ecological connectivity across borders.

PT Capsule (Facts, Days, Appointments)

• GLOF (Sintaphu Lake, Bhutan): flash-flood alerts in West Bengal and Assam. GLOF = sudden release from a glacial lake held by a moraine, ice or combined dam. Causes: glacial retreat, ice/rock avalanches, cloudbursts, seismic activity, piping; anthropogenic: unregulated construction, tourism, climate change. Case: South Lhonak (Sikkim, 2023). NDMA 5-point strategy: hazard assessment, AWWS, early warning, engineering interventions, community involvement. About 95% of Indian Himalayan glaciers retreating (ISRO).
• World Bank Poverty and Equity Brief (Oct 2026): extreme poverty down to 2.6% (2023); population below $4.20/day 57.7% to 16.1%; multidimensional poverty 53.8% (2005-06) to 16.4% (2019-21); Gini 23.0; top 10% earn 13 times bottom 10%; employment +134 million (2017-23); youth unemployment 15.9% (Q1 FY27); rural 19.3% vs urban 8.6% at $4.20. Note: the 2011 starting figure is quoted as 27.1% by the Analyst but as 27.6% in a BJP leader's remarks reported in The Hindu; check the World Bank brief before quoting it in an answer.
• National Social Security Boards: Unorganised Workers (40 members) and Gig and Platform Workers (22 members), both chaired by the Union Labour Minister; meet at least thrice a year; advise on Code on Social Security, 2020.
• Chola Nataraja: Shiva's cosmic dance; earliest depiction at Ravana Phadi cave, Aihole (Chalukyas); Chola bronzes used lost-wax casting (known since the Indus Valley); UPSC Prelims 2025 asked about the Chola campaign against Srivijaya (Rajendra I).