UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

The India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) entered into force on 20 October 2026, following its signing on 27 April 2026.

On 15 October 2026, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal launched the National Strategic Trade Command Centre at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has introduced a colour-coded Credit Risk-o-Meter (CRM) to help investors assess the credit risk associated with bonds and other specified debt securities.

The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is scheduled to be announced on 12 October 2026.

On 9 October 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced an increase in the minimum daily Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) maintenance requirement from 90% to 99%.

The GST Council has announced reforms aimed at simplifying GST registration, accelerating refund processing and reducing tax-related litigation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has excluded Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) from the list of Scheduled Banks under the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

The Reserve Bank of India’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, on 7 October 2026 unanimously raised the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps), from 5.25% to 5.50%. 

The National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has conducted India’s first-ever All-India Survey on Household Travel.

NABKISAN Finance Limited, a subsidiary of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), listed India’s first Social Bond dedicated exclusively to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Mumbai, on 2 October 2026.