Lionel Messi wins 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Argentine footballer Lionel Messi received the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports at a ceremony in Spain on October 23, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  The ceremony was held at Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo.
2.  Messi became the first individual footballer to receive the honour.
3.  King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia presided over the ceremony.
4.  Princess Leonor presented the award.
5.  Messi was chosen from 27 candidates representing 12 nationalities.

Additional Information:
1.  He was recognised as football’s most-titled player.
2.  His philanthropy through the Leo Messi Foundation supports healthcare and education.

Goa launches Artificial Intelligence Policy 2026.

Dated: 28 October 2026

The Goa Government launched its Artificial Intelligence Policy 2026 at the Goa AI Tech Conclave in Panaji on October 26, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  The policy provides a three-year framework from 2026 to 2029.
2.  Its five pillars cover skills, startups, investment, governance infrastructure and responsible AI.
3.  An AI Centre of Excellence will be created with BITS Pilani Goa.
4.  AI laboratories will be established in educational institutions across different talukas.
5.  Goa will work with Digital India BHASHINI on a Konkani large language model.

Additional Information:
1.  The Granthika initiative will digitise historical, legal and manuscript records.
2.  Goa became India’s 25th state on May 30, 1987 and its capital is Panaji.

RBI to implement tighter capital adequacy norms from April 2027.

Dated: 28 October 2026

RBI issued revised capital-adequacy and leverage-ratio norms on October 23, 2026 for implementation from April 1, 2027.

Key Highlights:
1.  The framework aligns Indian banks with Basel III standards.
2.  Domestic Systemically Important Banks must maintain a minimum 4% leverage ratio.
3.  Other commercial banks must maintain at least 3.5%.
4.  Banks will calculate capital and exposure measures at every quarter-end.
5.  Exposure includes balance-sheet assets, derivatives, securities financing and off-balance-sheet commitments.

Additional Information:
1.  The leverage ratio is a non-risk-based protection against excessive borrowing.
2.  India’s D-SIBs include SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

Bodhana Sivanandan becomes youngest female International Master.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Indian-origin chess player Bodhana Sivanandan became history’s youngest female International Master at age 11 on October 24, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  She achieved the title during the European Women’s Chess Club Cup.
2.  She broke Judit Polgar’s 38-year-old record.
3.  Representing She Plays to Win Lionesses on Board 1, she scored 5.5 points from seven games.
4.  She defeated Swedish Woman International Master Viktoria Johansson in 32 moves.
5.  Her performance raised her live rating to 2399.4.

Additional Information:
1.  International Master is FIDE’s second-highest title after Grandmaster.
2.  FIDE was established in 1924 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

NLCIL signs Rs.37,000 crore MoUs with IPICOL for Odisha projects.

Dated: 28 October 2026

NLC India Limited and IPICOL signed MoUs in Mumbai on October 22, 2026 for industrial projects worth Rs.37,000 crore in Odisha.

Key Highlights:
1.  A 3,200 MW ultra-supercritical coal power plant will be developed.
2.  The thermal project has tentative investment of Rs.35,000 crore and may create 4,000 jobs.
3.  A beach-sand mineral processing facility will receive about Rs.2,000 crore.
4.  The mineral facility is projected to employ 500 people.
5.  A coal-gasification study will examine production of synthesis gas for fertiliser plants.

Additional Information:
1.  NLCIL is a Navratna enterprise under the Ministry of Coal.
2.  IPICOL is Odisha’s single-point agency for industrial investment.

World Polio Day observed globally on October 24.

Dated: 28 October 2026

World Polio Day was observed on October 24, 2026 to raise awareness and accelerate eradication of poliomyelitis.

Key Highlights:
1.  The 2026 theme was One day, one focus, Ending polio for good.
2.  Rotary International established the observance to mark Dr Jonas Salk’s birth anniversary.
3.  Salk developed the first successful inactivated polio vaccine.
4.  The vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955.
5.  India’s last wild-poliovirus case was reported in Howrah on January 13, 2011.

Additional Information:
1.  WHO certified India and the South-East Asia Region polio-free on March 27, 2014.
2.  India maintains protection through universal immunisation and acute-flaccid-paralysis surveillance.

C-DAC and Bank of India partner for indigenous quantum technologies.

Dated: 28 October 2026

C-DAC and Bank of India signed an MoU on October 22, 2026 to develop indigenous quantum technology for banking and financial services.

Key Highlights:
1.  The Electronics and Information Technology Ministry facilitated the partnership.
2.  It aims to create quantum-safe systems for cybersecurity and operational resilience.
3.  Joint research will cover high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.
4.  Secure AI platforms will support fraud analysis and credit analytics.
5.  Sandbox environments will host proofs of concept and pilot projects.

Additional Information:
1.  C-DAC was established in 1988 to develop indigenous PARAM supercomputers.
2.  Bank of India was established in 1906, headquartered in Mumbai and nationalised in 1969.

Indian physicist Ashoke Sen wins 2026 Oskar Klein Medal.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Physicist Ashoke Sen received the 2026 Oskar Klein Medal on October 22, becoming the first Indian honoured with it for string-theory research.

Key Highlights:
1.  Sen is ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor at ICTS-TIFR Bengaluru.
2.  Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics award the medal annually.
3.  He delivered the memorial lecture at AlbaNova University Centre in Stockholm.
4.  The lecture was titled Gravity from strings and strings from gravity.
5.  His research includes S-duality, black-hole entropy and string field theory.

Additional Information:
1.  Sen received the Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2013.
2.  The Oskar Klein Medal was established in 1988; past recipients include Stephen Hawking and Peter Higgs.

Uttar Pradesh ranks first under Mission Karmayogi.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Uttar Pradesh ranked first nationally for implementing Mission Karmayogi and building government-official capacity, announced at a Lucknow workshop on October 23, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  Rajasthan ranked second and Jammu and Kashmir third.
2.  UP recorded 1.923 million iGOT Karmayogi users with more than 99% active participation.
3.  The Home Department led Category A after completing over 1 crore courses.
4.  Higher Education led Category B and Handloom and Textiles led Category C.
5.  Sadhana Saptah provided a seven-day capacity-building programme in January 2026.

Additional Information:
1.  Mission Karmayogi began in September 2020 as the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building.
2.  It shifts administration from a rule-based to a role-based approach.

RBI data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute inaugurated in Odisha.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated RBI’s data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute near Bhubaneswar on October 25, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  The facilities are at Info Valley-II in Jatni, Odisha.
2.  The project cost was Rs.169 crore.
3.  It occupies 18.55 acres of land.
4.  Then RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das laid the foundation stone on March 22, 2023.
5.  The data centre will host mission-critical payment and settlement systems.

Additional Information:
1.  The institute will conduct cybersecurity research, training and capacity building.
2.  RBI is India’s central bank and its payment systems support national financial stability.

Usha Mangeshkar selected for inaugural Bhupen Hazarika National Award.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Assam announced on October 23 that singer Usha Mangeshkar will receive the inaugural Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika National Award.

Key Highlights:
1.  The ceremony is scheduled for November 29, 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
2.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the honour.
3.  The award carries Rs.10 lakh and a citation.
4.  It will be conferred every three years.
5.  Eligible fields are music, arts and cinema at national or international level.

Additional Information:
1.  Bhupen Hazarika was known as the Bard of Brahmaputra.
2.  He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1992 and Bharat Ratna posthumously in 2019.

India begins National Plan of Action for 30 million tonnes fish production.

Dated: 28 October 2026

The Union Fisheries Secretary launched development of a National Plan of Action for small-scale inland fisheries on October 23, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  The plan targets 30 million tonnes of fish production within five years.
2.  It seeks to raise seafood exports from about Rs.70,000 crore to Rs.1.25 lakh crore.
3.  Current annual fish production is 19.7 million tonnes.
4.  Inland fisheries contribute about 75% of India’s fish output.
5.  The framework is based on UN Food and Agriculture Organisation guidance.

Additional Information:
1.  The Fisheries Department and Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation are collaborating.
2.  It covers rivers, canals, reservoirs, lakes, wetlands, tanks and cold-water systems.

IIIT-Bangalore and Poland’s AGH University sign research MoU.

Dated: 28 October 2026

IIIT-Bangalore and Poland’s AGH University signed a research MoU on October 23, 2026 for cooperation in emerging technologies.

Key Highlights:
1.  The agreement was signed by IIIT-B Director Debabrata Das and AGH adviser Rao Maddukuri.
2.  It focuses on artificial intelligence, quantum technology and other emerging areas.
3.  The institutions will develop joint research and academic programmes.
4.  Faculty and students will receive mobility and academic-material exchange opportunities.
5.  They will organise seminars, symposia and educational conferences.

Additional Information:
1.  Winter and summer schools will support academic exchange.
2.  Career guidance and promotional programmes will be held online and offline.

Mysuru sets Guinness record with 3,473-drone peacock display.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Mysuru created a Guinness World Record on October 18, 2026 by forming a giant peacock with 3,473 drones during Dasara.

Key Highlights:
1.  The category was largest aerial bird display formed by multirotor drones.
2.  The show took place at Torchlight Parade Ground, Bannimantap.
3.  Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation organised it for Karnataka’s Energy Department.
4.  Delhi startup BotLab Dynamics executed the display.
5.  Other formations included a lion, butterfly, soldier with the Tricolour and Goddess Chamundeshwari.

Additional Information:
1.  The same team used 2,983 drones for a jumping-tiger record in 2025.
2.  Mysuru Dasara is Karnataka’s state festival and features the Jumboo Savari procession.

Enhanced NMMS app developed with IIT Madras for VB-G RAM G.

Dated: 28 October 2026

The Rural Development Ministry launched an upgraded National Mobile Monitoring System app on October 23, 2026 to improve worker-attendance transparency.

Key Highlights:
1.  IIT Madras provided technical support for development.
2.  AI face verification and liveness detection prevent false attendance.
3.  Google Play Integrity and device security prevent cloning and tampering.
4.  Offline attendance works in weak-network regions.
5.  VB-G RAM G generated nearly 46 crore person-days, with 40 crore authenticated by face.

Additional Information:
1.  The scheme employed 3.65 crore workers across 2.41 lakh Gram Panchayats.
2.  IIT Madras was established in 1959 and was India’s third IIT.

Japanese novelist and filmmaker Ryu Murakami passes away at 74.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Acclaimed Japanese novelist and filmmaker Ryu Murakami passed away aged 74 on October 23, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1.  His debut Almost Transparent Blue won the 75th Akutagawa Prize.
2.  The thriller In the Miso Soup received the Yomiuri Literary Prize.
3.  He won the Tanizaki Prize for Parasites in 2000.
4.  Murakami directed Tokyo Decadence in 1992.
5.  His novel Audition was adapted by Takashi Miike into a cult horror film.

Additional Information:
1.  He founded the electronic magazine Japan Mail Media in 1999.
2.  The Akutagawa Prize was established in 1935 and honours new or rising serious-fiction authors.

Major Abhilasha Barak honoured on 81st United Nations Day.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Major Abhilasha Barak received the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award 2026 during the 81st United Nations Day observance on October 24.

Key Highlights:
1.  She served with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
2.  The award recognised her commitment to gender advocacy in peacekeeping.
3.  United Nations Day marks the UN Charter entering into force in 1945.
4.  It is observed annually on October 24.
5.  UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/168(II) designated the official day in 1947.

Additional Information:
1.  The UN Charter is the organisation’s founding document.
2.  India reaffirmed commitment to Charter principles during the 2026 observance.

Pavani Pasumarthi receives Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.

Dated: 28 October 2026

Pavani Pasumarthi received the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar on October 19, 2026 for her contribution to Kuchipudi music.

Key Highlights:
1.  She is a Carnatic-music faculty member at Acharya Nagarjuna University.
2.  Sangeet Natak Akademi confers the honour.
3.  Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat presented it at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi.
4.  The award recognises promising young artists in music, dance and performing arts.
5.  Sangeet Natak Akademi was established in 1953 under the Culture Ministry.

Additional Information:
1.  The Yuva Puraskar began in 2006 for performing artists below age 40.
2.  Kuchipudi is one of India’s eight major classical dances and originated in Andhra Pradesh.