Current affairs — 8 October 2026

On 7 October 2026, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India, chaired by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, unanimously raised the policy repo rate by 25 basis points from 5.25% to 5.50% — the first hike since February 2023 — and changed the policy stance from neutral to calibrated tightening, signalling that rate cuts are “off the table in the near term”. Two members, Dr Nagesh Kumar and Prof. Ram Singh, preferred to keep the stance neutral. The MPC cited the re-escalation of the West Asia conflict in September, volatile crude prices above US$100 a barrel, a deficient southwest monsoon and El Niño, raising its FY27 CPI inflation projection to 5.2% even as it lifted FY27 GDP growth to 7.1%.

On 7 October 2026, Karnataka, replying in the Supreme Court to Tamil Nadu's application on a backlog in Cauvery releases, signalled that it may seek to reopen the allocation made by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award as modified by the Court's 2018 judgment, on grounds of “inequitable allocation” and “changed circumstances” — the doctrine of rebus sic stantibus. Its 40-page reply, settled by senior advocate Mohan Katarki, argued that water allocations are normally revisited periodically, that even the Union of India is seeking to modify the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (now in abeyance) on changed circumstances, and that there is no scientific formula for sharing distress pro rata — in a year when Karnataka's southwest monsoon was the second-lowest in 70 years.

On 7 October 2026, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was detained by the Delhi Police for the second day running as INDIA bloc MPs attempted a flash protest near Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 has been in force across New Delhi since 2 October; police have said they will pre-emptively detain past agitators under BNSS Sections 126 and 170 and use Facial Recognition System (FRS) technology on more than 2,800 people before a 10 October protest. The same day, the Delhi High Court asked the Centre to decide within six months on a plea for standard operating procedures (SOP) for ‘always-on’ body-worn cameras during crowd control.

A field study commissioned by the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) and the National Seed Association of India (NSAI), and carried out by the South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur (director Bhagirath Choudhary), reported on 7 October 2026 that of the 114.8 lakh hectares sown under cotton in 2025-26, an estimated 26.2–29 lakh hectares (24–30%) was under hybrids carrying unapproved genetically modified (GM) genes — cp4-epsps, which gives tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate, and/or Vip3A, a next-generation insect-resistance gene. India permits only two GM genes in cotton, cry1Ac and cry2Ab.

On 7 October 2026, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 to Henri B. Kagan (France; Professor Emeritus, Université Paris-Sud) and Kenso Soai (Japan; Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Science) “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis”. Their work explains how a small imbalance between the two mirror-image (chiral) forms of a molecule can be amplified into an almost pure single form — the chemistry behind making the right-handed version of a drug, agrochemical or fragrance.

At the United Nations High-Level Meeting (UN HLM) in New York in September 2026, India made official remarks on the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) — part of the emerging legal regime led by the WHO Pandemic Agreement (PA). India backed stronger preparedness but set two conditions: equitable access to drugs, vaccines and therapeutics with global public goods such as digital infrastructure, and respect for national sovereignty and the primacy of member states, declaring that “Global Solidarity must be demonstrated through action”. The United States rejected the Declaration, calling the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system and WHO’s role in declaring pandemics a challenge to its national interests.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released its biennial Living Planet Report (LPR) 2026, whose Living Planet Index (LPI), produced by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), shows that the average size of monitored vertebrate populations fell by 73% over 52 years (1970–2022). Declines were steepest in freshwater (85%), followed by terrestrial (69%) and marine (59%) ecosystems, and the report names the food system as the single largest driver of biodiversity loss. The release coincided with India’s Wildlife Week (2–8 October).

On 7 October 2026, a Bombay High Court Division Bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna said aspirants protesting in Pune since 2 October against alleged malpractice in Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) recruitment are “not antisocial elements”, asked the State to restore their trust, and directed a written road map within three weeks (next hearing 25 November). The State told the Court it had accepted an exam fee of ₹100 and offline exams, and had sent the Governor a recommendation under Article 317 to examine the conduct of former and incumbent MPSC chairpersons and members. The same day in Karnataka, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a special court that the suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar and member B.V. Geetha, arrested on 6 October, sold answer keys of a recruitment exam.

On 7 October 2026, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the Supreme Court would “examine and then take a call” on listing an application, mentioned by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and filed by Naman Sherstra, seeking recall of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma's opinion in the 23 September split verdict on referring the challenge to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 to a Constitution Bench. The ground: Justice Sharma's son, Siddharth Sharma, has been standing counsel for the Election Commission of India (ECI) before the Madhya Pradesh High Court since 10 July 2024, a fact not disclosed in any of the five hearings. The plea invokes the test of “reasonable apprehension” of bias, stressing that proof of actual bias is not necessary.

Speaking at a media workshop at Jaduguda (East Singhbhum, Jharkhand) organised with the PIB and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), reported on 8 October 2026, Kancham Anand Rao, CMD of the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), said the company plans to double domestic uranium output by 2036. The plan rests on four greenfield mining-and-processing projects — led by Rohil (Rajasthan) with a capacity of 2,500 tonnes of ore a day, Gogi (Karnataka), and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — and on recovering uranium from the copper-mine tailings of Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) from 2029-30.

In a ruling reported on 8 October 2026, a Division Bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court — Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M.D. Sumathi — dismissed a Civil Miscellaneous Appeal by the Kanzeon Public Charitable Trust, which runs a Zen Meditation Centre at Kodaikanal and was founded by a Christian priest, against rejection of its registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010. The court held that the trust had not correctly declared its religious nature in Form FC-3A (Rule 9, FCRA Rules, 2011), that religious organisations engaged in conversions shall be denied FCRA registration, and that only organisations whose activities do not affect the nation’s secular fabric and social amity are entitled to it.

Serum Institute of India’s (SII) recombinant quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine, Cervavac, has received World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification. The vaccine targets HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18 and is indicated for girls and boys aged 9–26. Listed on WHO’s prequalified vaccines register with effect from 25 September 2026 and announced by SII on 5 October 2026, it can now be procured by UN agencies such as UNICEF. Cervavac was developed with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Gates Foundation.

On 7 October 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its first guidelines on managing obesity in children and adolescents — two documents, one for children (29 days to under 10 years) and one for adolescents (10–19 years). They recommend against weight-loss medicines and bariatric surgery for children, allow them only conditionally for adolescents after structured lifestyle programmes fail, and make diet, physical activity and behaviour change the foundation of care. “The foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery,” said Dr Luz María De Regil, Director, WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety.

On 7 October 2026, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released two cheetahs, named Vyom and Neera, in the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (VDTR) in Sagar district of the Bundelkhand region — the third cheetah habitat after Kuno National Park (Sheopur) and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (Mandsaur). At the same event he released Madhya Pradesh’s Vulture Population Estimation 2026 report.

On 7 October 2026, the eve of the Indian Air Force’s 94th anniversary (8 October), Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh told air warriors and veterans at the Air Force Auditorium, Subroto Park, New Delhi, that the IAF is moving “in the right direction” but “can be a little faster”, and needs “greater capacity, faster induction and more combat mass”. He said the force has shifted from a platform-centric to a capability-centric approach, which “proved its worth” in Operation Sindoor, and flagged delays in the LCA Mk-1A programme. He retires this month; Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit is to succeed him.

The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to set up a campus in Hyderabad, it was reported on 7 October 2026.

On 7 October 2026, the Telangana government issued GOs sanctioning ₹1,108.27 crore for the Sri Omkareswara Swamy temple complex at Manchirevula in Gandipet mandal, as part of the Musi Riverfront project.

The window for claims and objections under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls closed on 7 October 2026, Telangana's Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy said.

On 7 October 2026, the Telangana State Commission for Backward Classes, led by chairman G. Niranjan, heard about 90 victims at the integrated district offices complex in Nizamabad.

The Telangana Waqf Board has alerted key departments that fake no-objection certificates (NOCs) and forged occupancy rights certificates (ORCs) are being used to grab waqf land, as reported on 8 October 2026.

On 7 October 2026, the School Education department released results of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) baseline test: only 13.5% of Class V students are competent in Mathematics and 8.8% in Telugu.

At a road-safety review chaired by Director General of Police C.V. Anand, officials identified 48 accident-prone corridors in Telangana, as reported on 8 October 2026.

On 7 October 2026, the first meeting of the Invest Telangana Governing Council, chaired by Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju, was held at the Secretariat.

On 7 October 2026, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) held its 27th convocation in Hyderabad, presided over by Governor and Chancellor Shiv Pratap Shukla.

On 7 October 2026, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla inaugurated the 13th Grameen Bharat Mahotsav, Telangana 2026, organised by NABARD's Telangana Regional Office at Ameerpet, Hyderabad.