Current affairs — 2 October 2026

On 1 October 2026, the Lok Sabha Secretariat informed members that the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 had cancelled its 6 October “Local Study Visit” to the Supreme Court. The circulated agenda had listed an “informal discussion” with the Chief Justice of India and other judges on simultaneous elections; chairperson P.P. Chaudhary said the visit was only “put off” because of other programmes.

On 1 October 2026, the Election Commission of India (ECI) told all State Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to run a “special drive” in the 20 States/UTs where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is over, to enrol voters “left out” of the rolls. The same day, Karnataka CEO V. Anbu Kumar ordered action against people filing false Form 7 objections after a five-hour protest by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and the Bombay High Court’s Goa Bench, hearing a deletion case, observed that an SIR draft roll cannot by itself justify deleting a voter without a hearing.

On 1 October 2026, a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court — Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan — set aside G.O.Ms. No. 105 and G.O.Ms. No. 1065, which gave Backward Classes (BCs) 34% of seats in Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) and 33.33% in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), because total reservation would breach the 50% ceiling. The court directed the State and the State Election Commission (SEC) to begin the poll process preferably within six weeks from 1 October; the N. Chandrababu Naidu government has announced an appeal to the Supreme Court.

On 1 October 2026, the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the United States G20 Presidency, reached consensus on a “G20 Statement on the Weaponization of Food through Coercive Trade Actions”, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal declaring that food “must never be used as an instrument of pressure against any country”. The same day, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)'s Monthly Economic Review for September, citing the WTO World Trade Report 2026, warned that trade deals which replace rather than complement the multilateral system raise trade costs, diversion and uncertainty.

On 1 October 2026, Indian jurist Dr Bimal N. Patel took the oath as a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) at its seat in Hamburg, Germany, beginning a nine-year term. He succeeds Neeru Chadha, whose term ended on 30 September 2026, keeping an Indian on the Tribunal's bench.

The Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 2026 came into force on 1 October 2026, replacing the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced through PIB on 30 September 2026. The new law creates a technology-neutral framework under which physical, electronic and digital bank records can be proved through certified copies, and shields bank officers from routine summons in cases where the bank is not a party.

On 21 September 2026, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma laid the foundation stone of the ISTRAC Advanced Radar Research Facility (IARRF) at Chandrapur, Kamrup Metropolitan district, near Guwahati, in the presence of ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan. On 1 October 2026, ISRO said the facility is part of Project NETRA and will strengthen India's Space Situational Awareness (SSA) while also serving atmospheric, weather and space-weather research.

On 1 October 2026, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) held a National Workshop on Strengthening the Implementation of the PC&PNDT Act in New Delhi with all 36 States/UTs and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). Citing the Sample Registration System (SRS) Report 2024, it said India's Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved from 898 (2014-16) to 918 females per 1,000 males (2022-24), and focused on curbing online advertisements for sex selection.

On 1 October 2026, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched National PNG Drive 3.0 and the MyPNG Portal at the 20th Foundation Day of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) in New Delhi. The drive, running to 31 March 2027, targets 50 lakh new domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections — on a day when the price of the 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder was raised by about ₹65.

On the evening of 29 September 2026, a fire gutted the top floor of Koder House on Tower Road, Fort Kochi — the mansion of the Paradesi Jewish Koder family, run as a heritage hotel. A short circuit is suspected; no one was hurt, but timber interiors and historic furnishings were lost.

At its 37th meeting on 1 October 2026, the Telangana Cabinet chaired by CM A. Revanth Reddy decided to seek Central calamity assistance, as about 235 mandals face drought-like conditions after a 17% monsoon rainfall deficit.

On 1 October 2026, the Telangana Cabinet approved release of two pending Dearness Allowance (DA) instalments to State government employees and matching Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners — instalments pending since 2024.

On 1 October 2026, the Telangana Cabinet approved tenders for about 7,800 MW of new clean-energy capacity: 3,000 MW solar, 4,000 MW battery energy storage (BESS) and 800 MW wind.

On 1 October 2026, the Telangana Cabinet decided to terminate 10 incomplete irrigation packages awarded in EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) mode under the Jalayagnam programme, and to call fresh tenders for the remaining work.

On 1 October 2026, the Telangana Cabinet directed fast-tracking of a world-class integrated fruit market at Koheda in Abdullapurmet mandal, Ranga Reddy district, with about ₹650 crore for Phase-1, fully funded by the State.

Data released on 1 October 2026 show Telangana's GST collections in September 2026 rose 18% to ₹5,327 crore (from ₹4,512 crore) — the highest growth among States, against the national average of 14.7%.

On 1 October 2026, Telangana's Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy said voters served notices under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) no longer need to attend physical hearings — Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit homes and collect documents.

On 1 October 2026, the Election Commission of India informed a Division Bench of the Telangana High Court that it would not hold a by-election to the Khairatabad Assembly seat until a pending election petition filed by Congress leader P. Vijaya Reddy is decided.

On 1 October 2026, Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court asked the State education department and CBSE to explain what action they had taken against private CBSE schools allegedly imposing non-NCERT syllabi and textbooks and charging high prices for study material.

On 1 October 2026, Telangana notified a second special Teacher Eligibility Test (TGTET) only for in-service teachers. Online applications run from 7 to 16 October; the exam is from 16 to 21 November 2026.

On 1 October 2026, TGSRTC and Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) announced a common travel pass valid on both city buses and Metro trains — a Day Pass of ₹400 and a Monthly Pass of ₹8,500.

On 1 October 2026, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) held its 26th convocation, awarding 1,721 degrees (including about 300 PhDs) and 178 medals. Former DRDO chairman Dr Samir V. Kamat was the chief guest.

On 1 October 2026, Hyderabad-based chip design firm SpintronicsAI Semiconductors signed an MoU with CSIR–Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CEERI) to develop production-ready gallium nitride (GaN) technology and study an indigenous GaN fabrication facility in India.

On 1 October 2026, a team of the Telangana State Medical Council (TGMC) led by Chairman Dr K. Mahesh Kumar raided four unauthorised 'first-aid' clinics in Kamareddy town that were allegedly giving injections and antibiotics without qualification.