Retail inflation jumps to 5.54% in September, Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford win the Nobel Prize in Economics, the new CAPF Act comes into force amid a Supreme Court challenge, the RBI strips Paytm Payments Bank of its scheduled-bank status, DRDO flight-tests a stratospheric airship, and it is International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. Here is the news that matters for competitive exams today.
India – National Affairs
Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Act, 2026 comes into force
The Ministry of Home Affairs notified that the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Act, 2026 (Act 9 of 2026) came into force on 8 October 2026, while its validity is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
- The Act governs recruitment, promotion, deputation and other service conditions in the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.
- The disputed provision: 50% of Inspector General posts are reserved for IPS deputation, and at least 67% of Additional Director General posts are to be filled by IPS deputation; the posts of Special Director General and Director General are to be filled exclusively through deputation.
- Earlier recruitment rules provided for 20% of Deputy Inspector General posts and 50% of Inspector General posts to be filled through deputation.
JOSH Teams launched at Bharat Mandapam to bring youth into TB elimination
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda launched JOSH (Joint Squad for Health) Teams under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, in collaboration with the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sports and of Defence and the Delhi Government.
- Each team has 5 Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) volunteers and 5 NCC cadets, led by a Class-I officer at block/ward level.
- The teams will do community outreach, identify people with TB symptoms, promote early testing and treatment adherence, and fight myths and stigma. The first phase covers 55 districts across 11 States/UTs.
UGC grants Letter of Intent to CU Denver for a Hyderabad campus
The University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a Letter of Intent to the University of Colorado Denver to set up a degree-granting campus in Hyderabad, which will be Telangana's first foreign university campus. The first batch is expected in August 2027, with Emeritus as its strategic joint-venture partner. The move is in line with NEP 2020's emphasis on internationalisation. The UGC was set up on 28 December 1953 and became a statutory body under the UGC Act, 1956.
BRICS Traditional Sports Games conclude in Ahmedabad
The BRICS Traditional and Indigenous Sports Demonstration Games 2026 were held in Ahmedabad on 12 and 13 October.
Other national headlines
- Kerala: a World Bank mission reviewing the Rs. 2,365 crore KERA project (Kerala Climate Resilient Agri-Value Chain Modernisation, 2024–2029) backed a proposal for a Carbon Credit Cell under the Agriculture Department.
- NCRTC–IGNCA MoU to promote art and heritage at Namo Bharat stations on the Delhi–Meerut corridor, which serves about 1.1 lakh commuters daily.
- Chhattisgarh signed an MoU with Singapore's ITE Education Services on skills during Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai's visit for the Singapore–India Network for Growth (SING) Forum (3–6 October).
- Nagaland launched SAY-SOBLOK with BRAC International to support 4,000 extremely vulnerable households under the Samaveshi Aajeevika Yojana.
- MoSPI signed an MoU with the Pahle India Foundation (8 October) to strengthen collaboration on official statistics.
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India is going "beyond advocacy" and talking to both Kyiv and Moscow, as reported by The Hindu.
Daily Current Affairs 13 October 2026 - Download Free PDF Here
Economy & Banking
Retail inflation at 5.54% in September; food inflation 7.74%
MoSPI's provisional data (12 October) put CPI inflation (base 2024=100) at 5.54% in September 2026, up from 4.83% in August – the highest in the new series. Food inflation (CFPI) rose to 7.74% from 5.97%, with onion inflation at 108.09%. Rural inflation was 6.08% and urban 4.88%. WPI inflation for September is due tomorrow, 14 October, and the next CPI release is on 12 November.
RBI's 4th bi-monthly policy of FY27: the details
The 63rd MPC meeting (5–7 October), chaired by Governor Sanjay Malhotra with members Dr Nagesh Kumar, Saugata Bhattacharya, Ram Singh, Dr Poonam Gupta and Indranil Bhattacharyya, unanimously raised the repo rate by 25 bps to 5.50%.
- As a result, the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate is 5.25%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate are 5.75%.
- With the stance changed to 'calibrated tightening', the next move can only be a hike or a pause. The FY27 growth forecast was raised by 40 bps to 7.1%.
- The RBI also set a Rs. 25,000 crore threshold under the Standardised Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR), effective 1 April 2027, and announced a Technical Consultative Committee for Financial Markets.
RBI removes Paytm Payments Bank from the list of scheduled banks
The RBI excluded Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) from the Second Schedule list of scheduled banks, in exercise of powers under Section 42(6)(b) of the RBI Act, 1934, after cancelling its banking licence on 24 April 2026 for non-compliance with regulatory norms.
- In July 2026 the Delhi High Court ordered PPBL's winding up and appointed former SBI CGM Girikumar M. Nair as Official Liquidator.
- Exam note: a scheduled bank must have paid-up capital and reserves of at least Rs. 5 lakh, among other conditions.
SEBI makes the colour-coded Credit Risk-o-Meter mandatory for debt securities
SEBI issued a circular introducing a Credit Risk-o-Meter as an additional disclosure for debt securities, effective 45 days after issuance (around 21–22 November). Existing credit ratings from AAA to D are mapped to six risk levels, from 'Lowest Credit Risk' to 'High to Very High risk of default', each shown in a colour. It must appear in offer documents, advertisements and online bond platforms, and covers non-convertible securities, commercial paper, securitised debt instruments, security receipts and market-linked debentures.
Corporate and business
- Dixon Technologies and Taiwan's Gemtek signed a joint-venture agreement (60:40) to make optical transceivers (SFP) and BOSA products in India; completion is expected by 3 February 2027.
- ReNew signed an MoU with the Maharashtra Government for a Rs. 70,000 crore green data-centre park (750 MW) in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, with operations from 2028 and 51% of power from green sources.
- UNDP and Generali Central launched an Insurance Innovation Challenge for MSMEs: up to three winners get grants of up to USD 40,000 each; applications close 20 November.
- Federal Bank launched the 'Verto' premium savings account for young professionals and entrepreneurs.
Recap: GST Council reforms
The 57th GST Council (8 October) left rates unchanged but approved removing GST officers' arrest powers, raising the prosecution threshold from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 5 crore, and cutting the general penalty from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 10,000.
Science & Technology
2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences: Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel on 12 October to US economists Robert E. Hall (Stanford University) and Michael Woodford (Columbia University) "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation."
- Their work underpins the models central banks and governments use to smooth out booms and busts. It was announced by the Academy's Secretary General Ellen Moons; committee chair John Hassler said it gives "a stable theoretical foundation" for those models.
- The 12 million Swedish kronor prize is shared equally. It has now been awarded 58 times to 101 laureates, only three of them women. The prize was established by Sweden's central bank in 1968 and first awarded in 1969.
- This closes Nobel Week 2026: Medicine (optogenetics), Physics (Francis Halzen), Chemistry (Kagan and Soai), Literature (Anne Carson) and Peace (Navi Pillay).
Navi Pillay: an Indian-origin laureate
The 2026 Peace Prize winner, Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, is a South African jurist of Indian origin, born in Durban. In 1995 she became the first woman of colour on South Africa's High Court, and she has served as an ad hoc judge of the International Court of Justice since 2019 in the genocide case brought by Gambia against Myanmar. She earlier became the first woman of colour to open a law practice in Natal (1967), defending anti-apartheid activists.
DRDO flight-tests High Altitude Platform System (HAPS) airship to 20 km
The DRDO, with the IAF and other agencies, successfully flight-tested the High Altitude Platform System (HAPS), a long-endurance stratospheric surveillance airship developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra, on 6 October 2026.
- The platform reached about 21 km above mean sea level and stayed at 20 km for more than 30 minutes; it was recovered and its performance data analysed. Real-time video and vehicle parameters were received at the ground station.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called it an important milestone toward a long-endurance stratospheric airship under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The ePlane Company and Noida International Airport sign eVTOL MoU
The ePlane Company (IIT Madras-incubated, founded 2019) signed an MoU on 8 October with Noida International Airport to develop vertiports, charging stations, SOPs and safety frameworks for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, covering airport-to-airport transit, intra-city travel and air ambulance services. It will seek DGCA and BCAS clearances and plans trials of its e200X PT-01 prototype.
Recap: TRISHNA and India Mobile Congress
An ISRO official said the Indo-French TRISHNA thermal-imaging satellite is in an advanced stage of realisation, with launch expected in 12–16 months. The 10th India Mobile Congress ran 7–10 October at Yashobhoomi.
Defence & Security
Navy and Coast Guard induction update
- ICGS Ajit, the seventh of eight Adamya-class fast patrol vessels built by Goa Shipyard, was commissioned on 9 October and will be based at Okha, Gujarat (52 m, 320 tonnes, more than 60% indigenous content).
- FSS-1 'Surya', the Navy's first indigenous Fleet Support Ship (about 43,500 tonnes, over 82% indigenous), was launched at Hindustan Shipyard, Visakhapatnam, on 6 October, with the keel of FSS-5 laid the same day.
Exercises and appointments
- Mountain Guardian 2026 (India–UAE, 92 personnel, Chaubatia, Uttarakhand) continues until 18 October. The IAF's multinational air exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 was scheduled to end on 12 October.
- Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit becomes the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on 31 October; the MoD signed a Rs. 661.50 crore BrahMos fire-control and launcher contract for Navy ships on 6 October.
- The CAPF Act, 2026 (see National) changes the deputation balance in the central armed police forces.
Sports
Fourth T20I against the West Indies tomorrow in Hyderabad
India lead the 5-match T20I series 2–1. The fourth T20I is on Wednesday, 14 October at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad (7:00 PM IST); the fifth is on 17 October at Bengaluru.
- India's T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Naman Dhir, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav. The West Indies are led by Shai Hope.
- The series so far: India won the 1st T20I at Lucknow by 8 wickets, the West Indies won the 2nd at Ranchi chasing 250, and India won the 3rd at Indore by 14 runs.
Coming up
- 2026 Asian Para Games: Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, 18–24 October; flagbearers Pramod Bhagat and Bhavina Patel.
- BWF World Junior Championships: Egypt, until 18 October.
- Summer Youth Olympics: Dakar, Senegal, 31 October–13 November.
India finished 4th at the Asian Games with 85 medals (21 gold, 27 silver, 37 bronze), the country's second-highest haul.
Important Days
13 October – International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
Observed every year on 13 October to promote a global culture of disaster-risk awareness, prevention and preparedness. The UN General Assembly started it in 1989 (originally on the second Wednesday of October) and fixed the date at 13 October in 2009. It is linked to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030; in India the legal framework is the Disaster Management Act, 2005, with the NDMA as the apex body.
10 October – World Mental Health Day (recap)
Initiated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health; the WHO has led the campaign since 2013. The 2026 theme, as reported, is "Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change." The green ribbon is the symbol of mental-health awareness.
9–15 October – National Postal Week
Organised by the Department of Posts (India Post) under the Ministry of Communications; it coincides with World Post Day (9 October), which marks the founding of the Universal Postal Union in 1874. India's modern postal system dates to the Indian Post Office Act, 1854, introduced under Lord Dalhousie.
Coming up this week
- 14 October: World Standards Day.
- 15 October: World Students' Day (birth anniversary of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam); International Day of Rural Women.
- 16 October: World Food Day.
Quick Revision – One-Liners
- September 2026 CPI inflation – 5.54% (August: 4.83%); food inflation 7.74%; onion inflation 108.09%; highest in the new series (base 2024=100).
- Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2026 – Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford, "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation"; 58th award, 101 laureates.
- CAPF (General Administration) Act, 2026 – in force from 8 October 2026; 50% of IG posts and at least 67% of ADG posts for IPS deputation; challenged in the Supreme Court.
- JOSH Teams – 5 MY Bharat volunteers + 5 NCC cadets; 55 districts in 11 States/UTs; under the PM TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
- Telangana's first foreign university campus – CU Denver (Hyderabad), UGC Letter of Intent; first batch August 2027.
- RBI's SDF / MSF / Bank Rate after the hike – 5.25% / 5.75% / 5.75%; repo 5.50%.
- RBI removed from the list of scheduled banks – Paytm Payments Bank (licence cancelled 24 April 2026); Section 42(6)(b), RBI Act, 1934.
- SEBI's new disclosure for debt securities – Credit Risk-o-Meter; six risk levels; effective 45 days after issuance.
- DRDO HAPS airship – developed by ADRDE, Agra; reached about 21 km, held 20 km for over 30 minutes (6 October).
- 2026 Peace laureate Navi Pillay – South African jurist of Indian origin; first woman of colour on South Africa's High Court (1995).
- Fourth T20I, India vs West Indies – 14 October, Hyderabad; India lead 2–1; fifth T20I on 17 October, Bengaluru.
- Asian Para Games 2026 – 18–24 October, Aichi-Nagoya.
- International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction – 13 October; fixed on that date in 2009.
- World Standards Day – 14 October; World Food Day – 16 October.
