Current affairs for UPSC
Daily notes mapped to syllabus topics, with “Asked before” PYQs and original practice MCQs.
GS3 · Environment, energy efficiencyOn 30 September 2026 the Ministry of Power notified new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms for passenger vehicles, in force from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032. The fuel-use benchmark tightens from 3.996 to 3.3273 litres per 100 km, an improvement of about 16.7 per cent, and the reference weight rises to 1,229 kg.
UPSC angle: Prelims: CAFE notifying ministry (Power, under the Energy Conservation Act). · Mains: Fleet-average standards as a nudge to EVs and hybrids.
30 Sep 2026GS3 · Energy infrastructureOn 30 September 2026 the Union Cabinet approved Green Energy Corridor Phase-III, with an outlay of ₹1,86,405 crore by 2032-33. It will strengthen intra-State transmission to carry up to 135 GW of renewable energy and add 50 GWh of battery storage. Central financial support is ₹54,082 crore, to keep transmission charges and power costs down.
UPSC angle: Mains: Why transmission and storage, not generation, now limit renewable growth.
30 Sep 2026GS3 · Economy (industry)MoSPI released the Annual Survey of Industries 2024-25 on 30 September 2026. Registered manufacturing GVA rose 9.59 per cent to ₹2694.2 thousand crore, output grew 7.81 per cent and employment 7.19 per cent, crossing 2 crore after adding over 14 lakh workers. Factories rose from 2.60 lakh to 2.67 lakh.
UPSC angle: Prelims: ASI vs IIP; who conducts ASI.
30 Sep 2026GS2 · EducationA PIB backgrounder of 29 September 2026 says the Education Ministry has, for the first time, defined literacy as reading, writing and computing with comprehension, plus life skills like digital and financial literacy. A State or UT at 95 per cent counts as fully literate. PLFS 2025 puts India's literacy rate at 81.1 per cent.
UPSC angle: Prelims: 95% threshold; new definition components.
29 Sep 2026GS3 · Environment (forestry, trade)On 29 September 2026 the Environment Minister handed over the first PRAMAAN certificates under the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme. Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation got one for 33,000 hectares of plantations, and an Odisha bamboo farmer got another. IIFM Bhopal runs the scheme, launched in December 2023.
UPSC angle: Prelims: operating agency of IFWCS.
29 Sep 2026GS3 · Environment (air pollution)At its 30th Full Commission meeting on 28 September 2026, CAQM revised the Graded Response Action Plan for NCR. Curbs on DG sets and old buses now start at Stage I, and BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel car curbs extend to Sonipat. The schedule now has 48 actions across four stages.
UPSC angle: Prelims: GRAP stages; who enforces GRAP. · Mains: Reactive vs preventive air-quality governance.
29 Sep 2026GS2 · IR (India–Korea)The 10th India-Republic of Korea Joint Committee Meeting on Defence Industries and Logistics Cooperation was held in New Delhi on 29 September 2026. It was co-chaired by the Additional Secretary (Defence Production) and the Vice Minister of Korea's DAPA. Companies from both sides, including L&T, BEML and Hanwha Aerospace, took part.
UPSC angle: Mains: East Asian partners in Aatmanirbhar defence.
29 Sep 2026GS2 · Welfare schemes, vulnerable sectionsPradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) is a 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme of the Social Justice Ministry, launched in 2021-22. It merges three older schemes and works through Adarsh Gram, grants-in-aid and hostels. By 8 September 2026, 18,093 villages had been declared Adarsh Grams.
UPSC angle: Prelims: funding pattern; merged schemes.
28 Sep 2026GS3 · Environment (international bodies)At the 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Hobart, Australia (28 September to 2 October 2026), India called for science-based conservation of whales and other cetaceans. The meeting marks 80 years of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, signed in 1946. India has been an IWC member since 1981.
UPSC angle: Prelims: IWC parent convention; cetacean examples (Gangetic dolphin).
28 Sep 2026GS2 · IR (India–France)On 28 September 2026 a French delegation led by Minister Philippe Baptiste met India's Minister of State for Science and Technology in New Delhi. They discussed the joint TRISHNA satellite, French support for Gaganyaan, and links with India's more than 400 space start-ups, under the India-France Year of Innovation 2026.
UPSC angle: Prelims: TRISHNA purpose (thermal infrared Earth observation – verify).
28 Sep 2026 
