TODAYS TOP NEWS
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1. UDAN, the Regional Connectivity Scheme launched on 21 October 2016, completes 10 years today. It has operationalised 687 routes and 95 aerodromes, including 17 heliports and 2 water aerodromes, and carried 1.72 crore passengers on over 3.68 lakh flights. ₹5,091.23 crore has been disbursed as Viability Gap Funding till 15 October; the next phase, launched on 4 July 2026, has an outlay of ₹28,840 crore.
2. Helicopter services under the Regional Connectivity Scheme linking Sanjauli in Shimla, Rampur and Reckong Peo in Himachal Pradesh begin today. Operated by Pawan Hans Limited, the service will run three days a week — Monday, Friday and Saturday — to improve connectivity for residents of remote areas.
3. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s eight-day Shilp Samagam Mela 2026 begins today at Farm Gate, Khanapara, Guwahati, and will run till 28 October. 75 artisans, including 31 women, from SC, OBC, Safai Mitra and Denotified Tribe communities will display about 40 varieties of handloom and handicraft products.
4. WWF-India, as a Resource Partner of the Environment Ministry’s EIACP, has launched a nationwide Green Diwali Campaign under Mission LiFE that will run till 8 November. It urges citizens to avoid firecrackers, use diyas and energy-efficient lights, avoid single-use plastic and choose local products, with a special focus on the 130 cities under the National Clean Air Programme.
5. The Delhi Government’s Winter Action Plan, to be implemented from 1 November to 28 February, will focus on road and construction dust. Mechanised sweeping will be extended to 854 smaller roads (about 609 km) across 250 wards, and a five-year partnership with IIT Delhi will analyse the daily sources of PM2.5 and PM10.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attending Vijayadashami celebrations in New Delhi, urged all political parties to join hands in the national interest and called on citizens to take a ‘Nation First’ pledge. He said forces that harm the country, those who divide society and the mindset that hates our culture are all enemies of the nation.
7. Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan, addressing the Luv Kush Ram Leela in Delhi on Vijayadashami, called drug abuse a ‘modern social evil’ threatening the youth. “Just as we burn the effigy of Ravan… let us resolve to finish the evil of drug abuse in our motherland,” he said.
8. Union Home Minister Amit Shah burnt the symbolic ‘Ravana of Chitta’ (drugs) at the Vijayadashami festival in Ludhiana and pledged to make Punjab drug-free by 31 December 2029. Earlier, he met families in Mansa and Gurdaspur who lost members for speaking against drugs, and urged people to report drug trade on the NCB toll-free helpline.
9. Addressing the RSS Vijayadashami Utsav at Reshimbagh ground in Nagpur, in the concluding year of the Sangh’s centenary, Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat said a wave originating in the West is seeking to destroy values of decency, culture and humanity. He cautioned that when public movements become tools of political gain, forces seeking to weaken India take advantage.
10. Lakhs of followers paid homage to Dr B.R. Ambedkar at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur on the 70th Dhammachakra Pravartan Day. Dr Ambedkar embraced Buddhism along with lakhs of his followers at Nagpur on 14 October 1956, on Vijayadashami, and the day has been observed since then.
11. Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu, greeting air traffic controllers on the International Day of the Air Traffic Controller, said India recorded over 1.5 crore domestic passengers in a single month. India aims to grow from 24 crore to 130 crore passengers by 2047, and AAI has earmarked ₹3,490 crore for modernisation, including ₹1,532 crore for air traffic management automation.
12. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said India’s nuclear programme is dedicated to peaceful purposes and not warfare, in line with Dr Homi Bhabha’s vision. Speaking at the Bloomberg Economy Forum 2026 in New Delhi, he said India targets 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 and Net Zero emissions by 2070.
13. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) introduced the ‘Toll Plaza Feedback’ feature on the Rajmargyatra mobile app on 19–20 October 2026. The feature enables National Highway users to submit feedback about toll plazas through the app.
14. Flights at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport were suspended for about five hours, from 4 pm to 9 pm on Tuesday, for the Alpassi Arattu procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, which passes across the runway to Shangumugham beach. Travancore royal family head Sree Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma led the bi-annual procession.
15. The portals of Badrinath Dham in Uttarakhand will close for the winter on 16 November at 9:37 pm, the temple authorities announced, marking the end of this year’s Char Dham Yatra season at the Himalayan shrine.
16. With a low pressure area likely to form over the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, the IMD has forecast heavy rain in several Tamil Nadu districts, including Chennai, over the next 24 hours. An upper-air circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal is also likely to bring heavy rain at isolated places in coastal Andhra Pradesh over the next three days.
17. Indian Railways today inaugurated the Tadoki-Rowghat and Abhanpur-Kurud broad gauge lines in Chattisgarh and flagged off new passenger train services connecting Raipur to Rowghat and Kurud.
18. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, in a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said the government had consulted the Opposition on the Delimitation Amendment Bill and 33% women’s reservation, but the Congress did not give time for talks. Kharge said he would explain his concerns on SIR, delimitation and women’s quota to the PM on 21 October.
19. Attorney General R. Venkataramani inaugurated the Tiruppur Kumaran Student Service Centre at Pondicherry University. Freedom fighter Tiruppur Kumaran, founder of the Desa Bandhu Youth Association, was martyred at 28 on 11 January 1932 after a police assault on the banks of the Noyyal River in Tiruppur during a protest march.
20. Srinagar International Airport has withdrawn restrictions that limited flight operations to between 8 am and 5 pm, allowing late-evening flights. The Winter Schedule 2026 comes into effect on 25 October, and airlines are filing slots for evening flights to and from Srinagar.
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LEGAL REPORT
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1. A Supreme Court Bench led by CJI Surya Kant has sought the Centre’s response on a PIL seeking uniform procedural safeguards and guidelines for all forms of ‘talaq’ under Muslim Personal Law. The court also asked parties to state their stand on the challenge to the validity of ‘Talaq-e-Hasan’, in which talaq is pronounced once a month over three months.
2. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann handed over the probe into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota of Mansa to the CBI, accepting his family’s demand. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who met the family, assured that no one involved would be spared; the CBI probe is to begin by Wednesday noon and be completed in 120 days.
3. Manipur Police arrested three suspects in a combing operation in Kangpokpi district over Monday’s killing of three Meitei firewood collectors in the Sunurok/Nongshum hills. ADGP Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo said two of them admitted being part of the assault team; 12 firearms, including INSAS, AK-47 and M-16 rifles, and over 1,000 rounds were recovered.
4. Cockroach Janta Party leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka moved the Delhi High Court against the extension of their judicial custody, seeking an urgent night hearing as the court is on Dussehra vacation. They were held on 13 October for allegedly climbing over a locked gate to enter Jantar Mantar.
5. Kolkata Police are searching for a person who allegedly announced that a section of the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal was collapsing, which appears to have triggered the stampede that killed 19 people and injured 25. Police said there is no evidence that any part of the pandal was about to collapse; footage from 13 of the 30 CCTV cameras is being examined.
6. Model Shraddha Dubey, the main accused in the death of Lucknow cafe owner Shiva Sharma (28), was arrested in Nagpur with her sister Rashmi and driver Danish, who carried a reward of ₹50,000 each. Sharma fell from an apartment balcony in Hazratganj on 9 October; police registered a murder case after his family alleged he was assaulted.
7. The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested three more persons, including former AAP sarpanch Lakhwinder Singh of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran, in the 15-kg heroin case involving Punjab Police constable Karandeep Singh of the anti-drone unit. The cross-border network allegedly used drones and was in contact with Pakistan-based smugglers.
In Pathankot, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Dhar Kalan SHO Inspector Gulshan Kumar while accepting a bribe of ₹1 lakh, part of ₹2.5 lakh he had allegedly demanded.
—— MISHAPS———-
1. In Gandhinagar, Bharuch and Banaskantha, Gujarat — 11 Killed in Four Road Accidents
Eleven people, including three women and a police sub-inspector, were killed in four road accidents since late Monday night. In Gandhinagar, three died when their car hit a divider and overturned on Adalaj Road; in Bharuch, three were killed when their car hit a commercial vehicle on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway around 3:30 am on Tuesday.
2. In Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh — Two Drowned, Two Missing at Beach: Four members of a family from Ramabhadrapuram in Vizianagaram district were carried away by the tide after entering the sea at Ganagallavanipet beach. Two of them, Pavani and Madhavi, drowned, while the other two remain untraceable.
3. Nine people, including three children, were injured in a fire that broke out in the electrical duct of a 13-storey residential building, Kohinoor HDIL Building No. 5, in Mumbai’s Kurla West around 6:53 am on Tuesday. Eight suffered suffocation; all were taken to Rajawadi Hospital, where their condition is stable.
4. In Manipur, a 45-year-old Kuki man, Paolen Khongsai of P Molding village, was shot dead by suspected militants while collecting bamboo shoots in a forest in Kangpokpi district on Tuesday, a day after three Meitei firewood collectors were killed. The Committee on Tribal Unity called a 24-hour shutdown in the district, while a 48-hour bandh over the Meitei killings hit five valley districts.
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DEFENCE News
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1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing the 25th SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, called for unified action to dismantle the ecosystem of terrorism. He said connectivity must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity, cited INSTC and Chabahar Port, and announced that India will host the first SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum by the end of this year.
2. On the sidelines in Dushanbe, Rajnath Singh met Tajikistan PM Qohir Rosulzoda and Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref. Addressing the Indian community, he said India’s defence exports reached a record ₹38,424 crore and its forex reserves are above $700 billion.
3. The Army is expected to get its first dedicated communication satellite, GSAT-7B, around mid-2028. The Ministry of Defence signed a ₹2,963-crore contract with NewSpace India Limited for the indigenous five-tonne geostationary satellite, which will provide secure connectivity across remote border areas.
4. DRDO’s Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) has shortlisted SSS Defence and Kalyani Group as Development-cum-Production Partners for an indigenous 20 mm aviation gun and turret system for HAL’s Rudra (ALH Dhruv Mk-IV) and Prachand (LCH) helicopters.
5. The Army is revamping its Directorate of Indigenisation to boost capability in indigenisation, upgrades, alternate solutions and R&D of spares and sub-systems. In an Expression of Interest issued on 20 October, it sought consultants for a study to enhance operational effectiveness and draw up a future roadmap.
6. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, who retires at the end of this month, flew a Kiran trainer at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, near Hyderabad, where he passed out in 1984 with the Sword of Honour. He had flown his last fighter sortie in a Tejas on 12 October during Exercise Tarang Shakti in Jodhpur.
FINANCE
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INDIAN RUPEE VALUE
💷 GBP ₹126(Approx)
€ Euro : ₹106(Approx)
USD ₹ 95(Approx)
🇨🇦 Canada :CAD ₹67
🇦🇺 Australia : ₹ 66
🇦🇪 UAE Dirham : ₹ 26
🇨🇳 China Yuan ¥ : ₹ 14
🇲🇻 Maldives Rufiya : ₹ 6.14
🇧🇹 Bhutan ngultrum : ₹ 1.00
🇳🇵 Nepal Rupee : ₹ 0.63
🇧🇩 B’desh Taka* : ₹ 0.77
🇵🇰 Pak Rupee : ₹ 0.34
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Rupee : ₹ 0.29
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BSE SENSEX
73,852.90 -876.37 (1.17%)🔻
NIFTY
22,888.95 -257.20 (1.11%)🔻
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Rates in Financial Capital Mumbai
GOLD : ₹ 14,608/ 01gm (24 krt)
SILVER : ₹ 2,30,000/KG
1. Jio Platforms’ IPO opens today with a price band of ₹1,065–1,119 per share, targeting a valuation of about ₹10.3 lakh crore. It raised ₹8,109.85 crore from 212 anchor investors, including BlackRock, ADIA and Fidelity, with the anchor book drawing bids of about ₹2.5 lakh crore; LIC was the largest anchor at ₹499.98 crore.
2. BSE and NSE will hold the special Diwali Muhurat Trading session on 8 November from 2:20 PM to 3:30 PM, marking the beginning of the new Samvat year. All trades in the session will carry normal settlement obligations.
3. The CBDT has introduced Form 173A under the Income-tax (Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on 19 October. Taxpayers claiming exemptions on interest and capital gains from government securities under Schedule IV entries 13D and 13E of the Income-tax Act, 2025, must furnish the prescribed details in the form.
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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
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1. Ramayana Declared Tax-Free in West Bengal
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that the Ranbir Kapoor–Yash film Ramayana will be tax-free in the State, as the cast joined him at Dussehra celebrations in Kolkata.
2. Devi Padukone Singh
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh announced the name of their second daughter, Devi Padukone Singh, on Dussehra, sharing their first family portrait with elder daughter Dua on Instagram.
3. IIFA 2027 in Abu Dhabi
The 27th IIFA Awards will be held at Etihad Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on 22 and 23 January. Co-founder Andre Timmins said Janhvi Kapoor will pay tribute to her mother Sridevi in her performance.
21 Oct (Wednesday)
Vedic Ritu/ Sharad
Drik Ritu : Sharad (Autumn)
पक्ष :: Shuklapaksh
Samvatsara : Parabhava Nama
(Purnimanta)
Vikram Samvat – 2083
Month : Ashvina 25
(In Amanta calendar)
Shaka Samvat – 1948
Month : Ashvina 10
Tithi : Dashami (up to 2:11 pm)Ekadashi
Nakshatra: Dhanishtha/
Shatabhisha
Rahu : 12:06 PM – 01:31 PM
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Ms. Pooja, |
