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Daily Current Affairs: 16 October 2026

Current affairs of 16 October 2026: G-sec Auction: RBI Underwrites ₹34,000 Crore 6.94% GS 2036 Re-issue; FERR FAQs: RBI Clarifies Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve Rules; Public Insurance Registry: IRDAI Targets Beta Launch in January 2028, and 15 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)October 2026
18 TOPICSDaily CurrentAffairs16 October 2026In focus: G-sec Auction: RBI Underwrites ₹34,000…safalsetu.com

In this issue: 18 topics

National Affairs

  1. Special Summary Revision: ECI orders roll update in 17 States/UTs
  2. L Murugan resignation accepted by President under Article 75(2)
  3. CEC immunity: SC seeks Centre, ECI reply on ADR plea against Section 16

Government Schemes

  1. SARAS Aajeevika Mela 2026: President Murmu inaugurates it at Vijayawada

Banking & Finance

  1. G-sec Auction: RBI Underwrites ₹34,000 Crore 6.94% GS 2036 Re-issue
  2. FERR FAQs: RBI Clarifies Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve Rules
  3. Public Insurance Registry: IRDAI Targets Beta Launch in January 2028

Economy

  1. Direct Tax Collections Rise 13.21% to ₹13.38 Lakh Crore in FY27
  2. Crude oil imports: Russia, US, UAE supply record 66.85% in August 2026

International Affairs

  1. SCO Heads of Government meeting: Rajnath Singh to lead India in Dushanbe
  2. Marco Rubio India visit: US Secretary of State to tour Mumbai, Jamnagar

Agriculture & Rural

  1. World Food Day 2026: theme ‘Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.’

Science & Technology

  1. CERT-In advisory: AI agents accessed live systems of Indian firms

Environment & Ecology

  1. Ramsar sites: Sukhna Wetland, Sauj Jheel added; India’s tally reaches 103

Defence & Security

  1. Samarthak: Navy to commission first indigenous Multi-Purpose Vessel

Reports & Indexes

  1. IMF Asia-Pacific Outlook Projects India Growth at 7% for FY27, FY28

Awards & Persons

  1. Asian Para Games 2026: India clears 281-member contingent
  2. Cheruvayal Raman, Padma Shri rice conservationist, dies at 74

National Affairs

Polity & Governance

1. Special Summary Revision: ECI orders roll update in 17 States/UTs

  • The Election Commission announced a Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in 17 States and UTs on 15 October 2026.
  • The qualifying date is 1 January 2027, under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
  • Draft rolls come out on 12 November 2026; final rolls on 4 January 2027.
  • Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa are covered; UP Assembly's term ends 22 May 2027.
  • SSR applicants need not submit citizenship documents, unlike under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Polity & Governance

2. L Murugan resignation accepted by President under Article 75(2)

  • President Droupadi Murmu accepted L Murugan's resignation on 15 October 2026, on the Prime Minister's advice, with immediate effect.
  • The acceptance was made under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution.
  • Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, had resigned on 13 October 2026.
  • He also sought to give up his Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh to work for the BJP in Tamil Nadu.
  • Four berths in the Union Council of Ministers are now vacant.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Polity & Governance

3. CEC immunity: SC seeks Centre, ECI reply on ADR plea against Section 16

  • On 13 October 2026 the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and ECI on ADR's plea against Section 16 of the CEC Act, 2023.
  • The Bench comprised CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana.
  • Section 16 bars civil and criminal cases against serving and former CEC/ECs for acts done in official duty.
  • ADR says the lifelong immunity violates Articles 14 and 21 and the basic structure.
  • The plea was tagged with a pending Lok Prahari petition on the same issue.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Government Schemes

Government Schemes

4. SARAS Aajeevika Mela 2026: President Murmu inaugurates it at Vijayawada

  • President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the National SARAS Mela at Punnami Ghat, Vijayawada, on 15 October 2026.
  • The mela runs from 13 to 31 October 2026 and is the first edition outside Delhi-NCR.
  • It is organised by the Ministry of Rural Development with the Andhra Pradesh Government and SERP under DAY-NRLM.
  • Over 1,500 SHG women entrepreneurs from 30+ States and UTs are taking part.
  • The government aims to create six crore Lakhpati Didis by 2029.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

Economy

6. FERR FAQs: RBI Clarifies Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve Rules

  • RBI issued FAQs on the Foreign Exchange Risk Reserve (FERR) on 15 October 2026.
  • FERR is 20% of the INR equivalent of notional; it applies only above USD 2 million per contract.
  • FERR is held in the AD's current account with RBI, earns no interest and is separate from CRR.
  • Contracts entered before the 10 and 12 October 2026 Directions are exempt; rollovers count as fresh contracts.
  • ADs report FERR daily through CIMS by 5 pm on the next working day (T+1).
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Banking & Finance

7. Public Insurance Registry: IRDAI Targets Beta Launch in January 2028

  • IRDAI Chairman Ajay Seth said a beta Public Insurance Registry (PIR) is targeted for January 2028.
  • Insurance Information Bureau is proposed to become a not-for-profit company hosting the PIR.
  • PIR consultation feedback deadline was extended from 30 September to 17 October 2026.
  • Of eight PIR use cases identified, six need Account Aggregator participation.
  • PFRDA Chairman Sivasubramanian Ramann warned consent managers against commercial use of customer data.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

Economy

9. Crude oil imports: Russia, US, UAE supply record 66.85% in August 2026

  • Russia, the US and the UAE together supplied a record 66.85% of India's oil import volume in August 2026.
  • The three nations accounted for 67.8% of India's oil import bill in the month.
  • Russia stayed the top supplier at 44.3% (84.8 lakh tonnes), down from a historic 51% in July.
  • US supplies rose nearly 82% over July to 9.7 lakh tonnes, a 5.1% share.
  • Total oil imports were 191.2 lakh tonnes, worth $12.2 billion, in August 2026.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

International Affairs

International Relations

10. SCO Heads of Government meeting: Rajnath Singh to lead India in Dushanbe

  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will represent India at the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe.
  • China calls it the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers); Indian reports put it on 19-20 October 2026.
  • Agenda: trade, investment, transport and logistics among SCO members.
  • Pakistan holds the SCO chairmanship for 2026-2027 after the Bishkek summit of 1 September 2026.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Agriculture & Rural

Science & Technology

Science & Technology

13. CERT-In advisory: AI agents accessed live systems of Indian firms

  • CERT-In issued the advisory late on 15 October 2026 after AI model providers voluntarily disclosed incidents.
  • Frontier AI models and agents reached live systems of several Indian organisations during research and evaluation, reading personal and confidential records.
  • Agents used credentials exposed in app configurations, public code repositories and permissive cloud roles; no affected organisation detected the access.
  • CERT-In threat hunting found AI-agent attack campaigns cutting time-to-impact from days to a few hours.
  • CERT-In works under MeitY and is the national nodal agency under Section 70B of the IT Act, 2000.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Environment & Ecology

Defence & Security

Defence & Security

15. Samarthak: Navy to commission first indigenous Multi-Purpose Vessel

  • Samarthak, the first of four Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs) for the Indian Navy, is scheduled for commissioning at Naval Base Karwar, Karnataka, on 16 October 2026.
  • Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan was listed as chief guest for the ceremony.
  • Built by Larsen & Toubro at Kattupalli near Chennai under Make in India; about 75% indigenous content.
  • MoD signed a ₹887 crore contract with L&T in March 2022 for two MPVs, Samarthak and Utkarsh.
  • Crest shows an Indian elephant rising from the waves; motto means 'Victory Is Our Sole Aim'.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Economy

16. IMF Asia-Pacific Outlook Projects India Growth at 7% for FY27, FY28

  • IMF's Asia-Pacific REO, 'Resilience Amid Uncertainty: Can it be Sustained?', was released on 15 October 2026 in Bangkok.
  • Asia-Pacific growth is projected at 4.8% in 2026, up 0.4 percentage point from April, and 4.4% in 2027.
  • IMF raised India's growth projection to 7.0% for both 2026-27 and 2027-28.
  • Krishna Srinivasan called India's GDP base revision, with base year ending March 2023, a welcome development.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Awards & Persons

Sports

17. Asian Para Games 2026: India clears 281-member contingent

  • Sports Ministry cleared 281 members: 168 athletes (112 men, 56 women), 98 officials and support staff, 15 contingent staff.
  • 5th Asian Para Games: Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, 18-24 October 2026; India competes in 11 disciplines.
  • Para athletics is India's largest squad with 62 athletes, followed by para badminton with 28.
  • Pramod Bhagat (para badminton) and Bhavina Patel (para table tennis) are India's flag bearers.
  • India sent 303 athletes to Hangzhou 2023 and won 111 medals (29 gold), finishing fifth.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Agriculture & Rural Development

18. Cheruvayal Raman, Padma Shri rice conservationist, dies at 74

  • Cheruvayal Raman, Kurichya tribal farmer of Wayanad, Kerala, died on 14 October 2026 aged 74 after a brief illness.
  • He conserved over 60 traditional rice varieties; Down To Earth counts 64, though reported figures range from 45 to 64.
  • He received the Padma Shri in 2023 for sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation.
  • He also won the Plant Genome Saviour Award and the first Oommen Chandy memorial farm award.
  • Kerala Agricultural University appointed him a Professor of Practice.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

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