Society, justice and ethicsThe Hindu, NationalGS1GS2Must read
The Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education has approved five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for the study of Classical Assamese, Classical Bengali, Classical Marathi, Classical Pali and Classical Prakrit, according to a PIB release of 3 October 2026. The centres will be at Tezpur University in Assam (Assamese), Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal (Bengali), Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University), Pune in Maharashtra (Marathi), the Central University of Odisha (Pali) and the Central University of Gujarat (Prakrit).
Prelims facts
- The Ministry of Education has approved five Centres of Excellence for Classical Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Pali and Prakrit (PIB, 3 October 2026).
- Host institutions: Tezpur University (Assamese), Visva-Bharati (Bengali), Deccan College, Pune (Marathi), Central University of Odisha (Pali), Central University of Gujarat (Prakrit).
- The five languages got classical status on 3 October 2024, taking India's classical languages to 11.
- Tamil was the first classical language (12 October 2004); the criteria were last revised on 25 July 2024 by the Linguistic Experts Committee under the Sahitya Akademi.
- Existing CoEs for Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia function under the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru.
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Polity and governanceThe Hindu, NationalGS2Must read
The Andhra Pradesh government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court on Saturday, 3 October 2026, against a High Court judgment that struck down its reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections. On 1 October a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, led by Chief Justice Lisa Gill with Justice Challa Gunaranjan, quashed G.O. Ms. No. 105, which gave BCs 34% of seats in rural local bodies, and G.O. Rt. No. 1065, which gave 33.33% in urban local bodies. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the State remains committed to 34% reservation for BCs.
Prelims facts
- Andhra Pradesh filed an SLP in the Supreme Court on 3 October 2026 against the High Court's 1 October verdict quashing its BC quota orders for local bodies.
- The High Court struck down G.O. Ms. No. 105 (34% BC reservation in rural local bodies) and G.O. Rt. No. 1065 (33.33% in urban local bodies).
- Grounds: total SC, ST and BC reservation above the 50% ceiling, and data that did not satisfy the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali (2021) triple test.
- Articles 243D(6) and 243T(6) enable, but do not oblige, States to reserve local body seats for backward classes (K. Krishna Murthy, 2010).
- The High Court ordered the local body election process to begin within six weeks because terms expired in March and April 2026.
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Environment and geographyThe Hindu, NationalGS3GS2
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar met the Centre's Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) on Saturday, 3 October 2026, and sought ₹7,142.64 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for drought relief. The State estimates drought losses at ₹46,324.50 crore across 177 taluks declared drought-hit. The demand has two parts: ₹3,705.30 crore sought earlier for the first 101 taluks, and a supplementary ₹3,437.34 crore for 76 taluks added later.
Prelims facts
- Karnataka sought ₹7,142.64 crore from the NDRF on 3 October 2026 for drought in 177 taluks, against estimated losses of ₹46,324.50 crore.
- Rainfall from 1 June to 16 September 2026 was 495 mm against a normal of 766 mm, a 35% deficit.
- Drought is declared by State governments using the Manual for Drought Management (updated 2020): rainfall triggers, impact indicators and ground truthing.
- NDRF aid needs an Inter-Ministerial Central Team assessment and approval by a High-Level Committee chaired by the Union Home Minister.
- The NDRF is constituted under Section 46 and the SDRF under Section 48(1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
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International relationsThe Hindu, NationalGS2
India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, said in Dhaka on Saturday, 3 October 2026, that India cannot give any deadline for the return of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina because Bangladesh's extradition request is being examined through a legal process. "The process is legal, and it is well structured," he said, adding that courts are involved and so no one can give a time frame. India's Ministry of External Affairs has said the request is being examined in line with established procedures. Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had raised the issue with Mr. Trivedi at a meeting in Dhaka in August.
Prelims facts
- On 3 October 2026 India's High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi said no timeline can be given for Sheikh Hasina's extradition as the request is in a legal process involving courts.
- Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia on 17 November 2025 for crimes against humanity linked to the 2024 crackdown.
- The India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty was signed in 2013 and amended in 2016 to drop the need to furnish evidence of the offence.
- Article 6 of the treaty allows refusal for political offences, but Article 6(2) excludes crimes such as murder; Article 8 allows refusal if the request is not made in good faith.
- Sections 29 and 31 of India's Extradition Act, 1962 let the Centre refuse or bar surrender in political or bad-faith cases.
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Science and technologyPIB, Government releaseGS3Must read
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said on 3 October 2026 that India has demonstrated a free-space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link over 5.56 km. The field trial, on the night of 27 to 28 September, set up a quantum-secure channel through the open air between the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) and IIT Gandhinagar. It was carried out by the quantum security firm QNu Labs with BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar.
Prelims facts
- MeitY announced on 3 October 2026 a 5.56 km free-space QKD link between BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar, tested on the night of 27 to 28 September.
- The link achieved a quantum bit error rate below 5% and secure key rates of 230 to 260 bits per second.
- It combined QNu Labs' QKD device 'Armos' with BISAG-N's post-quantum cryptography platform 'Vedic Kavach'.
- In QKD, eavesdropping disturbs the quantum states and shows up as a higher error rate.
- The National Quantum Mission (2023-24 to 2030-31, ₹6,003.65 crore) targets satellite-based secure quantum communication over 2,000 km.
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