Current affairs

National and international, 15 topics

• Law & Judiciary

  Contempt Notices, Internet Curbs and the Four-Km Zone: The Supreme Court’s Sunday Sitting on the Delhi Lockdown

  In an “extraordinary, exceptional” special sitting on Sunday, 11 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana found a prima facie case of contempt and issued notices to Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and DMRC chairperson D. Thara. The petition, by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, alleges violation of the Court’s 9 October direction that there be no complete prohibition on movement of Metro and trains on the day of the protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Bench sought counter-affidavits and compliance reports by 13 October, ordered that there be no detention “save and except by procedure established by law” beyond the area where Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) operates (the four-km prohibitory zone of central Delhi that includes Jantar Mantar), asked the police to review barricades, keep Internet connectivity undisturbed and remove a prohibitory-order board outside the Court, all “subject to law and order”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Court that entry and exit were restricted at 45 of 303 Delhi Metro stations on 10 October and that the Internet had been restored.

  GS-II · Reported by The Hindu

• Economy & Finance

  RBI’s Rupee Defence: Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve, Derivative Curbs and an Oil Dollar Window

  On Saturday 10 October 2026 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued A.P. (DIR Series) Circulars No. 25 and No. 26 to Authorised Dealers, along with a separate press release opening a special dollar window for the three public sector oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) — from Monday 12 October. The centrepiece is a Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve (FERR): banks must park 20% of the rupee value of eligible forex derivative contracts above US$2 million in cash with the RBI. The package follows the 7 October rate action, when the Monetary Policy Committee raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% yet the rupee still fell; it closed at ₹96.73 per dollar on 9 October, near its record low of ₹96.96 (May 2026), and is down almost 7% in 2026.

  GS-III · Reported by The Indian Express

• Polity, Constitution & Governance

  Keralam Assembly Seeks the CEC’s Removal: What State Resolutions Can Do and How Election Commissioners Are Selected

  The Congress-led UDF government in Keralam moved a resolution in the State Legislative Assembly on Monday, 12 October 2026, the first day of the second session of the 16th Assembly. Moved by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, it urges the Union government to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, to restore the voting rights of eligible voters deleted in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) after rectifying anomalies, and to reconstitute the committee that selects Election Commissioners to include the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. The Indian Express reported from the Assembly bulletin that this would make it the first State Assembly to bring such a resolution seeking a CEC’s removal. The House has 140 members (UDF 102, LDF 35, BJP 3), and news-agency reports on 12 October said it was adopted, with the BJP opposed. It comes amid nationwide protests demanding Kumar’s resignation.

  GS-II · Reported by The Indian Express

• Law & Judiciary

  Data Protection Board Still Not Functional: Kerala High Court Sets Eight-Week Expectation Under the DPDP Act

  The Kerala High Court (Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M.) disposed of WP(PIL) 15/2026, C.R. Neelakandan v Union of India, a petition on the handling of passenger data at airports through Digi Yatra, after the Union’s counsel stated that the Data Protection Board of India “has been constituted but has not been made functional”. The Bench recorded its expectation that the Board will be made functional within eight weeks; The Hindu reports this as a direction to the Centre. It also observed that the privacy of citizens was being compromised, noted that the Digi Yatra Foundation accepts Aadhaar and driving licence as identity proof, and expressed the expectation that authorities may also accept Voter ID. The order was reported on 10 October 2026 and carried in the 12 October 2026 editions.

  GS-II, GS-III · Reported by The Hindu

• International Relations

  Katchatheevu Back Before the Supreme Court: Sri Lanka Claims an Indian Acknowledgement of Title

  Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, speaking at a rally on 11 October 2026 to mark two years in office, said that the Government of India “has acknowledged before the Supreme Court that Katchatheevu Island belongs to Sri Lanka”. He was referring to the Supreme Court hearing of 6 October 2026 on a batch of petitions, led by A.K. Selvaraj v Union of India (W.P.(C) 561/2008), challenging the “unconstitutional ceding” of the island under the 1974 agreement and the 1976 arrangement. Before the Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva, Attorney General R. Venkataramani reportedly said that India enjoys “excellent relations” with Sri Lanka and does not intend to reopen the two agreements. The Court gave no ruling on their validity, orally urged that Indian fishermen be sensitised not to cross into Sri Lankan waters, and listed the matter for February 2027.

  GS-II · Reported by The Hindu

• International Relations

  Pakistan Declares Emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ending the PTI Provincial Government

  On Sunday 11 October 2026, Pakistan declared an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) over a “deteriorating law and order situation”, ending the provincial government led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). On the federal cabinet’s recommendation, President Asif Ali Zardari issued a proclamation under Articles 232(1) and 234(1) of the Constitution, citing rising terrorist attacks and a breakdown of constitutional machinery, and relying on a report by the provincial Governor. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and the advocate general were ordered to vacate office immediately. KP was the only province governed by PTI. The move came during a protest march led by Afridi, which began at Lakki Marwat on 4 October to press for Khan’s release and medical access, after two rounds of talks with the federal government failed; the Centre had said it would not allow the march into Islamabad.

  GS-II · Reported by The Hindu (PTI)