The year-on-year inflation rate based on the All India Consumer Price Index with base year 2024 for October 2026 over October 2025 is 6.09 per cent, provisional.
Real time price data are collected from 1407 urban markets and 1465 villages covering all States and Union Territories by field staff of the Field Operations Division of the NSO, MoSPI, and the response rate during October 2026 was 100 per cent in both rural and urban markets.
The headline rate and the food rate are the two numbers a paper asks from any CPI release, and the rural figure exceeding the urban one in both is the pattern a question can be built on. The base year changed to 2024, which is itself askable.
Linked static GK: The Consumer Price Index measures retail price change for a basket of goods and services, and the Consumer Food Price Index is the food component of that same basket. Both are compiled by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, and the Reserve Bank's inflation target is set on headline CPI.
The 45th India International Trade Fair 2026, organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation, will be held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, from 14 to 27 November 2026.
Themed Vikas aur Virasat, the Fair will bring together more than 3,500 exhibitors from India and abroad across 17 halls, covering over 1,00,000 square metres of exhibition space.
The Fair will see participation from 32 States and Union Territories and 51 Central Ministries, Government Departments, public sector undertakings and public sector banks.
International participation will include 11 countries, with pavilions featuring exhibitors from Thailand, Iran, Ghana, Nepal, Afghanistan, the UAE, Turkey, China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The edition number, the theme and the Partner States are the three things a paper asks about a trade fair, and Maharashtra being a Partner State matters to this audience. The distinction between Partner and Focus States is the trap.
Linked static GK: The India Trade Promotion Organisation is the central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that organises the India International Trade Fair at Bharat Mandapam, formerly Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries received 22 bids for 10 GWh of Advanced Chemistry Cell manufacturing capacity earmarked for grid-scale stationary storage.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries received 22 bids from prospective bidders for 10 GWh capacity offered under the Global Tender for selection of beneficiary firms to establish giga-scale Advanced Chemistry Cell manufacturing facilities in India.
The 10 GWh capacity is earmarked for Grid-Scale Stationary Storage applications and forms part of the overall targeted 50 GWh ACC manufacturing capacity under the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage.
The 10 GWh on offer against the 50 GWh overall target is the pair a question uses, and the selection method named by its acronym is the kind of procedural detail a paper tests.
Linked static GK: An Advanced Chemistry Cell is a new-generation storage technology covering lithium-ion and other advanced battery chemistries. The National Programme on ACC Battery Storage is a production linked incentive scheme run by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, and a gigawatt-hour measures the energy a manufacturing line can produce in cells per year.
NITI Aayog released the report Impact Assessment of PLI Schemes, which assesses all 14 notified sectors and finds nearly 70 per cent of targeted segments on track.
NITI Aayog released the report titled Impact Assessment of PLI Schemes, prepared in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad as the knowledge partner.
The report presents a sector-wise assessment of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme across all 14 sectors notified by the Government of India, examining its impact on investment, additional production, exports and employment generation.
The assessment is based on sector-wise collection of firm-level data shared by implementing Ministries, supplemented by industry-level inputs from authenticated sources.
The count of notified PLI sectors is a standing figure worth knowing, and the four outcome categories are a named set. The knowledge partner is the detail that separates a candidate who read the release from one who read the headline.
Linked static GK: NITI Aayog is the Government of India's policy think tank, which replaced the Planning Commission in 2015. It does not implement schemes; it evaluates and advises, which is why an impact assessment comes from it rather than from the implementing ministries.
IIT Kharagpur, the country's first Indian Institute of Technology, has become the first IIT in India to introduce postgraduate medical degree programmes accredited by the National Medical Commission.
Beginning with the academic session 2026-27, the Institute will welcome its inaugural cohort of MD students at the Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre.
The six MD programmes are General Medicine, Radiology, Physiology, Pathology, Community Medicine and Biochemistry, with 2 seats each and a total of 12.
Admissions for the academic session 2026-27 will take place through the NEET-PG online counselling process, with the programmes available for consideration in Round 2.
A national first with an institution attached is among the most reliably asked categories in general awareness, and the accrediting body and the total seat count are the two numbers that go with it.
Linked static GK: The National Medical Commission replaced the Medical Council of India in 2020 as the regulator of medical education and practice in India. An MD is a postgraduate medical degree, so accrediting one at an institution of technology rather than a medical college is what makes this a first.
The Technology Development Board signed an agreement with Astrome Technologies for Rs 64.05 crore to develop a sovereign space-based AI-enabled Electronic Intelligence constellation.
The Technology Development Board, Department of Science and Technology, signed an agreement with Astrome Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, Karnataka, for financial support of Rs 64.05 crore under the Research, Development and Innovation Fund.
The project, with a total project cost of Rs 128.11 crore, aims to develop a sovereign space-based Artificial Intelligence-enabled Electronic Intelligence constellation for national security applications.
The programme seeks to advance critical technologies from Technology Readiness Level 4 to Technology Readiness Level 9, with financial support provided through Optionally Convertible Debt.
The programme brings together three key technology components: an Electronic Intelligence payload, AI-based ground processing software, and inter-satellite communication links.
The project envisages the development and progressive deployment of AI-ELINT microsatellites in the 50 kg class, designed to operate as part of a constellation architecture.
The support amount against the total project cost is a clean pair, and Technology Readiness Level is a scale a paper expects a candidate to recognise by its endpoints.
Linked static GK: The Technology Development Board is a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology that provides financial assistance to Indian companies commercialising indigenous technology. Electronic intelligence means intelligence gathered from non-communication electronic signals such as radar emissions.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched a three-year medicinal plant conservation project covering 16 tribal hotspots across 13 States and Union Territories.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in collaboration with the CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, formally launched the project for sustainable tribal livelihoods in tribal hotspots of India at the Central University of Odisha, Koraput, on 12 November 2026.
The three-year initiative aims to conserve the medicinal plant biodiversity of tribal regions while harnessing traditional knowledge and indigenous bioresources to create sustainable livelihood and enterprise opportunities for tribal communities.
The major interventions include documentation of approximately 200 to 300 medicinal plant species, scientific propagation of 30 to 40 rare, endangered and threatened species, and establishment of 16 community nurseries and 16 seed banks.
The count of hotspots against the count of States is the pair this release is asked on, and the two numbers are different. Gadchiroli, Nashik and Kodagu put this item directly in front of Maharashtra and Karnataka candidates.
Linked static GK: The CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute at Lucknow is the national laboratory for plant sciences. Rare, endangered and threatened species is a formal conservation category used in Indian botanical practice, distinct from the IUCN Red List categories.
The 9th National Naturopathy Day will be observed on 18 November 2026 at Nagamangala, Karnataka, under the theme Prakrutik Chikitsa, Swasth Bharat.
health · upsc-prelims, ssc-cgl, mpsc-group-c, rrb-ntpc
The 9th National Naturopathy Day will be observed on 18 November 2026 at the Central Research Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy, Nagamangala, Karnataka, under the theme Prakrutik Chikitsa, Swasth Bharat.
This year's theme emphasises preventive and promotive healthcare through appropriate dietary practices, physical activity, yoga, stress management and other evidence-informed naturopathic approaches.
The date of National Naturopathy Day, its edition number and this year's theme are three separate askable facts, and the venue being in Karnataka matters to this audience.
Linked static GK: National Naturopathy Day is observed on 18 November each year, marking the date in 1945 on which Mahatma Gandhi became the lifetime chairman of the All India Nature Cure Foundation Trust. Naturopathy is one of the systems under the Ministry of Ayush.
The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan expanded from 272 vulnerable districts to 372 districts in August 2022 and to all districts of the country with effect from 15 August 2023.
The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan was initially launched in 272 districts identified as particularly vulnerable to substance use, was subsequently expanded to 372 districts in August 2022, and was extended to all districts of the country with effect from 15 August 2023.
The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 15 August 2020, has reached over 35.88 crore people across the country as on 12 November 2026.
The first National Survey on the Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India, conducted in 2018, indicated that more than 7 crore people in the country were affected by substance use disorders, including nearly 1.2 crore children and 58 lakh women.
The three-step district expansion is the askable structure of this Abhiyaan and it is stated here for the first time with its dates, where 10 November 2026 could give only the original 272. The 2018 National Survey figures are the baseline a paper uses to size the problem. The reach figure moves every few days, so it carries its as-on date and is never the thing asked.
Linked static GK: The National Survey on the Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India was the first nationwide survey of its kind and remains the reference for the scale of substance use disorders. A District De-Addiction Centre provides treatment and counselling, as distinct from the awareness work the Abhiyaan itself does.
The President interacted with 146 meritorious students and alumni of Eklavya Model Residential Schools at Rashtrapati Bhavan, as part of Janjatiya Gaurav Pakhwada 2026 commemorating the 151st birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda.
President Droupadi Murmu interacted with meritorious students and alumni of Eklavya Model Residential Schools at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, New Delhi, on 12 November 2026.
The programme was organised by the National Education Society for Tribal Students under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, as part of Janjatiya Gaurav Pakhwada 2026, commemorating the 151st birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda.
The participants included Class X and XII toppers and students who had secured admission to premier institutions such as IITs, NITs, National Law Universities, NIFT and government medical colleges.
The President noted that the equal representation of boys and girls in Eklavya Model Residential Schools reflects progress towards inclusive development.
The 151st birth anniversary and the society that runs Eklavya Model Residential Schools are the askable facts here. The participant count is NOT asked, deliberately: 2026-11-11 item 013 published that approximately 200 students were expected, and 146 actually attended, so the archive holds both an expected and an actual figure for one event.
Linked static GK: The National Education Society for Tribal Students is the autonomous body under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs that runs Eklavya Model Residential Schools for tribal students. Eklavya is the figure from the Mahabharata who taught himself archery, which is why the schools carry his name.
A state's first facility of a kind is a standard general-awareness question, and this is the second Aadhaar Seva Kendra item in the archive after the Tamil Nadu centres of 9 November, so a stem has to name the state.
Linked static GK: An Aadhaar Seva Kendra is a dedicated centre run by the Unique Identification Authority of India for enrolment and updates, as distinct from the enrolment centres operated by banks, post offices and state governments. UIDAI is a statutory authority under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized 12.87 metric tonnes of Red Sanders logs worth about Rs 7.72 crore at Chennai Port and arrested three members of a smuggling syndicate.
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officers intercepted an export container at Chennai Port during 9 to 11 November 2026, acting on intelligence about an attempt by a Chennai-based syndicate to smuggle Red Sanders logs to Malaysia.
Examination revealed 12.87 metric tonnes of high-grade Red Sanders logs, valued at approximately Rs 7.72 crore, concealed alongside a small quantity of the declared cargo and gravel stones.
The Red Sanders and cover cargo were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and three key members of the syndicate were arrested under the same Act.
Red Sanders, Pterocarpus santalinus, is a protected species listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The CITES Appendix and the Wildlife Protection Act Schedule that Red Sanders falls under are the durable facts here, and both are stated. This is the second DRI item in three days, so a stem must name the commodity.
Linked static GK: Red Sanders is a tree endemic to the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, prized for its timber and heavily smuggled. CITES Appendix II covers species not necessarily threatened with extinction but whose trade must be controlled, which is a different status from Appendix I.
The Raksha Mantri launched a suite of in-house artificial intelligence applications developed by the Indian Air Force's UDAAN at the Air Force Commanders' Conference in New Delhi.
defence · upsc-prelims, ssc-cgl, cds, nda, afcat
Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh addressed the Air Force Commanders' Conference in New Delhi on 12 November 2026 and called upon the Defence Forces to strengthen both offensive and defensive dimensions of the element of surprise.
The Raksha Mantri launched a suite of Artificial Intelligence applications developed in-house by the Indian Air Force's AI Centre of Excellence of the Unit for Digitisation, Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Application Networking, known as UDAAN.
The applications will be used to automate and expedite tasks across operations, administration and aerospace safety, and are deployed on the Indian Air Force's secure network.
The Raksha Mantri called upon the Indian Air Force to develop dedicated doctrines and architectures for emerging domains of warfare, including electronic, cyber and space.
UDAAN's full expansion is an acronym question that writes itself, and the three emerging warfare domains named for doctrine development are a set a paper asks a candidate to complete.
Linked static GK: The Air Force Commanders' Conference is the Indian Air Force's apex leadership meeting, held periodically to review operational readiness and plans. An acronym like UDAAN is chosen to spell a Hindi word, in this case meaning flight, while expanding to an English description of the unit's work.
The Union Education Minister launched three flagship digital initiatives of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, including an AI-integrated Vidya Samiksha Kendra.
education · upsc-prelims, ssc-cgl, ctet, rrb-ntpc
Union Minister for Education Pralhad Joshi inaugurated three flagship digital initiatives of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in New Delhi.
The three initiatives are the AI-integrated Vidya Samiksha Kendra with the Samiksha AI Bot, the KVS-Samvaad Parent Connect App and Web Portal, and the KVS Alumni Connect Portal.
The Minister described the initiatives as a significant step towards realising the objectives of the National Education Policy 2020 and advancing the vision of Digital India.
The Minister suggested that the initiative be extended beyond Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan to benefit students across the entire school education ecosystem, in collaboration with the Department of School Education and Literacy.
The three initiatives are a named set, and a Vidya Samiksha Kendra is a concept a paper expects a candidate to place against the National Education Policy rather than merely recognise as a portal.
Linked static GK: A Vidya Samiksha Kendra is a data dashboard for school education that aggregates attendance, learning outcomes and scheme delivery for review. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan is the autonomous body under the Ministry of Education that runs Kendriya Vidyalayas, mainly for the children of transferable central government employees.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposed Rent a Cab reforms that cut the minimum fleet from 50 to 5 cabs and replace separate licences with one electronic licence valid across a State.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed reforms to make cab rental businesses easier to start and operate, expand rental choices and strengthen passenger safety.
The fall in the minimum fleet from 50 to 5 is the single number this proposal is asked on, and the 60-day timeline is the second. A proposal is not yet a rule, which is itself worth a candidate noticing.
Linked static GK: A Rent a Cab scheme licence is issued under the Motor Vehicles Act framework and allows an operator to rent out cabs, which is distinct from a contract carriage permit or an aggregator licence. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issues such reforms as draft proposals for comment before notification.