Current Affairs Today 6 October 2026: UPSC News Roundup

🗞️ Why in News Beyond the deep dives on the 2026 Nobel Prize in Medicine for optogenetics, the first National Household Travel Survey, the India-Switzerland state visit outcomes, the 375 permissible works under VB-G RAM G, Project Cheetah reaching 60 and coal stocks at power plants, the 6 October 2026 roundup covers the appointment of three High Court Chief Justices to the Supreme Court, the Court’s call for 24-hour monitoring cells against sexual offences in Delhi, a plea on redrawing ward boundaries during the Census, the Dibrugarh-Dhaka methanol barge setting sail, CAQM flying squads against stubble burning, Exercise Mountain Guardian 2026, India’s medals at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Project VeerAI, an indigenous AI vision chip.

Three High Court Chief Justices Appointed to the Supreme Court

The President on 5 October 2026 appointed three High Court Chief Justices as judges of the Supreme Court:

The appointments take the Court’s working strength to 37 against a sanctioned strength of 38, leaving one vacancy. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced them on X, and the three are to be sworn in on 6 October.

How the appointment works. Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President under Article 124(2), on the recommendation of the collegium (the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges), a system that rests on the Second Judges case (1993) and the Third Judges case (1998). The 99th Constitutional Amendment and the NJAC Act, 2014, which sought to replace the collegium with a National Judicial Appointments Commission, were struck down in 2015 (Fourth Judges case).

📌 Facts Corner

• Sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court: 38 including the CJI, raised from 34 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2026.
• The previous increase, in 2019, took the strength from 31 to 34.
• Justice Sunita Agarwal was Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
• Appointment: Article 124(2); oath before the President or a person appointed by the President: Article 124(6).

Supreme Court Asks Delhi Police for 24-Hour Monitoring Cells

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran, hearing a suo motu case on a spate of sexual assaults on minors and women in the Delhi-National Capital Region, on 5 October asked the Delhi Police to set up 24-hour monitoring cells for continuous surveillance of vulnerable areas, and to strengthen patrolling around educational institutions and public spaces.

• CCTV is not enough. The Bench said cameras help catch an offender after the event but cannot prevent a crime unless someone watches them continuously from a control room.
• Know the hotspots. It asked the police to identify vulnerable pockets, including illegal eateries where anti-social elements gather.
• Listen to residents. It noted reports that residents had warned the police about trouble near Astha Kunj Park, close to Lady Shri Ram College, before the gangrape of a 17-year-old there, and that the warnings went unheeded.
• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Delhi Police, acknowledged deficiencies in patrolling.

The exam angle. Police is a State subject (Entry 2, List II), but Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Ministry. The case connects to community policing, the Nirbhaya Fund for women’s safety projects, and the Prakash Singh judgment (2006) on police reform, whose directions on accountability remain unevenly implemented.

📌 Facts Corner

• “Police” and “public order”: State List (Entries 2 and 1, List II).
• Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006): seven directions on police reform, including State Security Commissions and Police Complaints Authorities.
• The suo motu power lets the Supreme Court take up a matter on its own, usually under Article 32.

Can States Redraw Wards During the Census? Supreme Court to Hear Plea

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on 5 October agreed to hear a petition asking whether State governments can carry out fresh delimitation of wards, changing their boundaries, while a Census is under way. It indicated listing the case for 9 October.

• The petitioner, Paka Suresh, a former Mayor of the Kadapa Municipal Corporation in Andhra Pradesh, says the question has national implications for Census 2027.
• Rule 8(iv) of the Census Rules, 1990 requires States to freeze the administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils, towns and so on from the date the Census Commissioner intimates.

Why the freeze exists. If boundaries move while enumerators are counting, a household can be counted twice or missed, and the figures for a town or ward stop matching its map. Ward delimitation for urban local bodies is done under State municipal laws, and elections are conducted by the State Election Commission (Article 243ZA). The case asks which rule gives way when the two timetables collide.

📌 Facts Corner

• The Census is conducted under the Census Act, 1948; Census Rules, 1990, Rule 8(iv): freeze on administrative boundaries.
• Census is a Union List subject (Entry 69, List I).
• Elections to municipalities: State Election Commission, Article 243ZA.

Dibrugarh’s Methanol Barge Sails for Dhaka

The consignment we described on 5 October set sail the same day. Union Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the barge DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, from Bogibeel terminal, Dibrugarh, carrying 540 tonnes of methanol made by Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL), Namrup, for Pangaon port near Dhaka. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined virtually.

A correction to our figure. Our 5 October article, citing press reports before the sailing, said the consignment would be about 1,080 tonnes in two vessels. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways says the cargo that sailed was 540 tonnes on one barge. (Corrected 6 October 2026.)

📌 Facts Corner

• NW-2: the 891 km Brahmaputra stretch from Sadiya to Dhubri, declared in 1988.
• India-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade: 1972.
• Jalvahak: cargo incentive scheme for inland waterways, launched December 2024.

CAQM Deploys Flying Squads Against Stubble Burning

The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has deployed flying squads in 34 districts, 18 in Punjab and 16 in Haryana, from 1 October to 30 November 2026, through the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), to prevent paddy stubble burning.

• The squads assess the ground situation and coordinate with farmers, the Parali Protection Force, district authorities, State nodal officers and State Pollution Control Boards.
• They report daily to the CAQM Cell at SAS Nagar (Mohali).
• Districts covered include Sangrur, Tarn Taran, Firozpur, Bathinda and Patiala in Punjab, and Jind, Fatehabad, Kaithal, Sirsa and Karnal in Haryana.

Why it matters. Stubble burning in October and November adds to the smog over Delhi, when low winds and falling temperatures trap pollutants. Enforcement is one lever; the others are in-situ management (machines such as the Happy Seeder, bio-decomposers), ex-situ use (paddy straw for biomass power and pellets), and crop diversification away from water-hungry paddy.

📌 Facts Corner

• CAQM: statutory body under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021.
• Flying squads: 34 districts (Punjab 18, Haryana 16), 1 October to 30 November 2026.

Exercise Mountain Guardian 2026: India and the UAE in Uttarakhand

The India-UAE joint military exercise Mountain Guardian 2026 began on 5 October at the Foreign Training Node, Chaubatia, Uttarakhand, and runs until 18 October. It focuses on mountain warfare.

• 92 personnel, in equal numbers from both armies; India is represented by a Bhairav Battalion and the UAE by a Mountain Infantry Battalion.
• Women officers and combatants from both armies take part in specialist roles.
• Drills include joint planning, surveillance grids, drone operations, rock climbing and integrated field exercises.

📌 Facts Corner

• Mountain Guardian 2026: India-UAE, Chaubatia (Uttarakhand), 5 to 18 October 2026, mountain warfare.
• India and the UAE are Comprehensive Strategic Partners (2017).

India Wins Four Golds at the Astronomy Olympiad

At the 19th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Hanoi, Vietnam (25 September to 5 October 2026), all five Indian students won medals: four gold (Pranjal Dixit, Sumant Gupta, Akshat Srivastava, Arnav Sehrawat) and one silver (Harshil Amitkumar Patel). India finished joint third with Vietnam, behind Iran and South Korea.

• 307 students from 64 countries took part, the largest IOAA so far.
• With the IOAA over, the year’s senior olympiads in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy are complete. For the first time since India began taking part in 1989, every Indian student won gold or silver: 16 golds and 8 silvers in all.
• Prof. Aniket Sule of the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR, is the current President of the IOAA. HBCSE runs India’s olympiad programme.

📌 Facts Corner

• IOAA 2026: Hanoi, 19th edition; India 4 gold, 1 silver.
• IOAA scoring: theory 50%, observation 25%, data analysis 25%.

Project VeerAI: An Indigenous AI Chip for Cameras

The Technology Development Board (TDB) of the Department of Science and Technology has signed an agreement with BigEndian Semiconductors, Bengaluru, to provide Rs 130 crore of the Rs 260 crore cost of Project VeerAI, under the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, as Optional Convertible Debt.

• The project will develop a camera-focused AI Vision System-on-Chip (SoC), initially for CCTV and surveillance, with security and privacy built in, and later for defence, automotive, industrial and medical uses.
• It will take the technology from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 to TRL 9, that is, from a validated prototype to a product proven in operation.

Why it matters. Most cameras in India run on imported chips. An application-specific chip designed in India reduces dependence on foreign supply chains for devices that sit on critical infrastructure and handle personal data.

📌 Facts Corner

• TRL scale: 1 (basic principles) to 9 (system proven in operational environment).
• System-on-Chip: a single chip carrying processor, memory and specialised blocks (here, AI vision).
• Optional Convertible Debt: a loan the lender may convert into equity.

Also in the News

India and Japan launch the Joint Crediting Mechanism manual (30 September 2026). Japan’s Ambassador Keiichi Ono and the then Environment Secretary Tanmay Kumar launched the Operational Manual for the India-Japan Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), which sets out the full project cycle, from a Project Idea Note to the issuance and authorisation of credits. The JCM operates under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, which allows countries to trade emission reductions bilaterally. As background, India and Japan signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on 7 August 2025 and adopted the Rules of Implementation on 8 June 2026. The Environment Ministry announced the launch on 5 October.

Singeetham Srinivasa Rao dies (3 October 2026). Film director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, born in 1931, died in Chennai. He directed about 60 films in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and English, among them Pushpaka Vimana, a feature film without dialogue, Aditya 369, which brought time travel to Telugu cinema, and the fantasy Bhairava Dweepam.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

• Article 6.2, Paris Agreement: cooperative approaches, with traded units called ITMOs (internationally transferred mitigation outcomes).
• Singeetham Srinivasa Rao: director of the dialogue-less Pushpaka Vimana and the time-travel film Aditya 369.

UPSC Relevance

GS Paper 1. Indian cinema (Singeetham Srinivasa Rao). GS Paper 2. Appointment of Supreme Court judges and the collegium; police reform and women’s safety; the Census and urban local bodies; India-UAE defence ties. GS Paper 3. Air pollution and stubble burning; inland waterways and the Northeast; semiconductors and indigenous technology; carbon markets under Article 6.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

Prelims, statement-ready facts:

• Supreme Court: working strength 37, sanctioned 38, after three appointments on 5 October 2026.
• Census Rules, 1990, Rule 8(iv): States must freeze administrative boundaries during the Census.
• CAQM flying squads: 34 districts, 18 in Punjab and 16 in Haryana.
• Mountain Guardian 2026: India-UAE, Chaubatia, Uttarakhand.
• IOAA 2026: Hanoi; India 4 gold, 1 silver; Prof. Aniket Sule is IOAA President.
• Project VeerAI: TDB support of Rs 130 crore under the RDI Fund.

Prelims, the traps:

• The collegium is not in the Constitution’s text; it comes from the Judges cases.
• Delhi Police reports to the Union Home Ministry, not to the Delhi government.
• The JCM manual was launched on 30 September, not on the day the ministry announced it.

Mains, arguments and keywords:

• Judicial appointments and diversity; preventive policing; data integrity in the Census; crop residue management; inland water transport; technology sovereignty.

Sources: PIB, Appointment of Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court, 5 October 2026, The Hindu, Centre elevates three HC Chief Justices to top court, The Hindu, Set up 24-hour monitoring cells to curb sexual offences, SC tells police, The Hindu, Plea in SC asks if States can redraw wards during Census, PIB, Dibrugarh sends first international cargo, 5 October 2026, PIB, CAQM flying squads, 5 October 2026, PIB, Mountain Guardian 2026, 5 October 2026, PIB, IOAA 2026, 5 October 2026, PIB, Project VeerAI, 5 October 2026, PIB, India-Japan JCM Operational Manual, 5 October 2026, Telangana Today, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao

Source: Current Affairs Today 6 October 2026: UPSC News Roundup — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs