Daily current affairs · Sun, 1 Nov, 2026
What mattered in the last day or two — from PIB, The Hindu and The Indian Express, written in our own words. Read these, then take the 21 MCQs →
PM Modi praised ISRO after GSLV-F18 successfully launched the NVS-03 navigation satellite, a step toward strengthening India's indigenous NavIC system and self-reliance in critical technology.
Seven BIMSTEC nations are taking part in the first-ever joint maritime security exercise (30 Oct–3 Nov 2026), aimed at building trust and operational links in the Bay of Bengal.
PIB backgrounder shows social protection coverage rising from 19% (2015) to 68.4% (2026), with EPFO's wage ceiling raised to ₹25,000 and withdrawal rules simplified under the Social Security Code, 2020.
Bengaluru startup Pranos Fusion has built a small tokamak, PRAGYA, to test plasma control and HTS magnets, aiming to finalise the blueprint of a larger reactor, PRANIK, by 2027.
A Hindu explainer says a returning spacecraft first loses most speed through atmospheric drag, then needs parachutes in the final phase for a gentle landing on land or sea. This is the key technology for the safe return of Gaganyaan crew.
The Supreme Court questioned the Centre over huge gaps between MRP and retailer purchase prices, while the NPPA capped trade margins on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs; the case shows how price control covers only a small slice of the…
A CAQM team inspected stubble-burning prevention and straw management in three Punjab districts, visiting ex-situ and in-situ sites and telling officials that action on the ground must match their commitments.
At a Delhi workshop, the Panchayati Raj Ministry stressed participatory planning, own-source revenue and scheme convergence under the newly approved PM VGSY, and signed an MoU with CESL for EV charging on Panchayat land.
The DoLR Secretary inspected ridge-to-valley watershed structures in Khed (Pune) and pressed for quick completion of drought-proofing works in Maharashtra, citing El Nino conditions and community upkeep of assets.
The Centre has extended the customs duty exemption on cotton imports by two months, to 31 December 2026, to ease raw material supply for the textile industry while keeping farmers' interests in view.
Maharashtra's Women Farmers' Empowerment Bill, passed in July 2026, recognises women as farmers regardless of land ownership, giving legal force to a long-pending activity-based definition of 'farmer'.
The first import consignment since full EXIM operations began in August reached Vizhinjam International Seaport, letting Kerala's businesses clear cargo locally instead of via distant ports.
Quad foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, voicing grave concern over economic coercion and reviewing cooperation ahead of a planned leaders' summit.
The Supreme Court is pressing the RBI and banks to curb 'digital arrest' fraud through mule-account controls and compensation for victims, but the editorial warns that broad holds and reporting could penalise genuine account holders.
Twelve infant deaths, ten of them tribal, in recent months have revived focus on Attappady's long-running child health crisis, with tribal groups saying the causes go beyond healthcare.
Chandigarh allows only certified green crackers this Diwali; a PGIMER expert explains they cut emissions but still pollute and harm health, so overall use must be reduced.
A study of 4,459 Delhi High Court bail cases finds judges promoted from the district judiciary grant bail far less often than judges appointed from the Bar, showing how judicial discretion and professional background can shape personal…
At the 14th international tourism mart in Tawang, the MHA and Tourism Ministry spotlighted easier permit procedures for foreign tourists in protected northeastern states, balancing footfall with security; foreigners are only about 1% of the…
A large COCOMI-organised rally, backed by the United Naga Council, demanded scrapping of the Suspension of Operations pact with Kuki militant groups, while Kuki-Zo bodies renewed their Union Territory demand, adding pressure on Centre and…
CPCB has told NCR pollution boards to close or serve show-cause notices on units in 17 highly polluting categories that have not installed or ordered air pollution control devices, to meet CAQM's particulate matter limit before winter.
Forest department began felling trees in Karjat for a 3,000-MW pumped storage hydropower project; Katkari tribal villagers who depend on the forest protested, halting work for now, raising a clean-energy versus forest-rights conflict.
Items are summarised in our own words from PIB, The Hindu and The Indian Express; nothing is reproduced from the articles, and each item links to the original. Questions are generated from those releases and re-checked against the source text by a second model before publishing. If one looks wrong, use Feedback — every report is read.
992 items so far across 55 days — 437 from Press Information Bureau, 270 from The Hindu and 285 from Indian Express — Explained. Every item links to the publisher.
The Government of India’s own releases — Cabinet decisions, ministry launches, scheme notifications, official data.
This is where a Prelims fact is first stated in the words the Commission is likeliest to use. A scheme’s nodal ministry, its year, its coverage: PIB says it plainly, and a newspaper paraphrase usually loses exactly the detail the question turns on.
National, Business, Science and the daily editorial.
The editorial is the one place an aspirant reliably meets the argument on both sides of a policy — the raw material for Mains, and for the Prelims statement-pair questions that ask which of two claims is actually true.
The Explained desk’s background pieces.
Explained exists to answer the “what is this and why now” question, which is the same question a Prelims item has to answer before it can be turned into an MCQ.
A newspaper is written for a reader who wants the day. An aspirant needs the two or three facts in it that can be asked, and the argument behind them — which is maybe four hundred words out of four thousand.
So we do not reproduce the article. Each item is written from scratch in our own words: what happened, which body or ministry it belongs to, the numbers as reported, the concepts it touches, and what the editorial is actually arguing where it argues something. The original is linked, always, and the link goes to the publisher — read it there if you want the whole thing.
What this does not do is replace the paper. If you have thirty minutes for The Hindu, spend them on The Hindu. This is for the mornings when you do not.
The day’s PIB releases and the relevant newspaper pieces are worked through and scored for Prelims relevance. Most of what a newspaper prints on any day is not askable, and the honest thing to do with it is drop it.
Where a story rests on a government document, the document is the source: the release, the survey, the notification, the Act. The publisher’s link sits on the item so you can check us.
Statement pairs, “consider the following” sets, correctly-matched pairs, assertion-reason — the formats the Commission actually uses, rather than one-line factual recall. A question that can be answered without reading the item is not a Prelims question.
The same standard as the previous-year bank: why the correct option is correct, and separately why each of the other three is not. A question with a bare answer key teaches nothing on the day you get it wrong, which is the only day it matters.
+2 for a correct answer, −0.67 for a wrong one, nothing for a blank, and your rank against everyone who attempted the same set. Past days keep their full solutions permanently.
The same standard applies to the previous-year bank: thirteen years of Prelims papers, every question explained. If you want to see the standard before committing a morning to it, one is worked through in full here.
55 days, 1,059 questions, all with full explanations, free to read. Past days show their solutions immediately and are free to attempt.
Yes. Reading is free and always will be — every item and every question, with their explanations, on the day and in the archive. Scoring today’s set, with your rank and the marks lost to negative marking, is free too with a sign-in. Past days you can attempt for nothing.
Press Information Bureau releases, The Hindu (National, Business, Science and the editorial) and the Indian Express Explained desk. Where a story rests on a government document — a Cabinet decision, an Economic Survey table, a notification — that document is the source rather than the newspaper report of it. Every item links to the publisher.
Twenty-one, in UPSC Prelims formats, marked the way UPSC marks: +2 for a correct answer, −0.67 for a wrong one and nothing for a question left blank. You also see your rank against everyone else who attempted that day’s set.
Every set published since the daily started is browsable by date, with its questions and full explanations shown. Today’s answers unlock when you submit; past days show solutions immediately.
No, and it is not meant to. If you have half an hour for The Hindu, spend it there. This is a distillation for the mornings you do not have it, and a way of turning what you read into questions you have actually answered.
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