Parliamentary Standing Committee
On UPSC.wiki
Current affairsAsian Para Games 2026: India's Record 114-Medal Haul at Aichi-Nagoya, Japan — Best-Ever PerformanceIndia concluded the 4th Asian Para Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (October 18–24) with a record 114 medals — 30 gold, 35 silver, and 49 bronze — finishing 4th in the overall medal table. This surpasses India's previous best of 108 medals at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou and represents the strongest-ever performance by Indian para-athletes at a multi-sport Asian para event. Current affairsDefence Acquisition Council Approves ₹2.12 Lakh Crore Procurement: India's Largest Defence Buy with 82% Indigenous SourcingThe Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital procurement proposals worth approximately ₹2.12 lakh crore (USD 22.32 billion) on October 26, 2026 — one of India's largest ever single-session defence procurement approvals. Around 82% of the value is to be sourced from Indian industry, reinforcing the Aatmanirbhar Bharat in defence initiative. Current affairsAATAL: India's World-First Integrated Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosol Toxicity Analysis Laboratory at IITM, New DelhiUnion Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Integrated Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosol Toxicity Analysis Laboratory (AATAL) at the IITM New Delhi campus on October 24, 2026. Described as the world's first of its kind, the ₹80 crore facility — set up under Mission Mausam — analyses the chemical fingerprint of Delhi-NCR's air pollution at 400-metre resolution, providing 72-hour forecasts and enabling source-attribution to guide targeted interventions. Current affairsLand Warfare Doctrine 2026: India's Updated Framework for Future Multi-Domain WarsDefence Minister Rajnath Singh released the updated Land Warfare Doctrine at the Army Commanders' Conference (October 21–23, 2026) in New Delhi. The revised doctrine — replacing the December 2018 version — integrates artificial intelligence, drone warfare, multi-domain operations, and precision weapons into a 20–30-year strategic roadmap for the Indian Army to fight and win future conflicts. Current affairsAshoke Sen Wins 2026 Oskar Klein Medal: First Indian Physicist to Receive Stockholm University's Prestigious HonourIndian theoretical physicist Professor Ashoke Sen has been awarded the Oskar Klein Medal 2026, becoming the first Indian physicist to receive this prestigious international honour. Sen, an ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), Bengaluru, was recognised for his pioneering contributions to string theory, black hole entropy, and string field theory. He delivered the Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture at Stockholm University's AlbaNova Centre on October 22, 2026. Current affairsPLFS September 2026: India's Labour Force Participation Rate Rises to 55.5%, Unemployment Steady at 5%The National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin for September 2026 on October 15, 2026. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rose by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 55.5%, while the overall unemployment rate remained steady at 5.0% — indicating stable labour market conditions ahead of the festive season. Current affairsNHRC India Faces GANHRI Accreditation Review: Downgrade from 'A' to 'B' StatusThe Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) has postponed its final accreditation review of India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to November 2026. NHRC faces a potential historic downgrade from 'A' (fully compliant) to 'B' (partially compliant) status under the Paris Principles, following concerns about independence, transparency in appointments, and its failure to adequately address serious human rights violations. Current affairsGlobal Hunger Index 2026: India Ranks 100th, Remains in 'Serious' CategoryThe Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2026, released on October 14, 2026, by Welthungerhilfe, the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), and Helvetas, ranked India 100th among 122 countries with a GHI score of 24.1 — still in the 'serious' category despite significant improvement from a score of 37 in 2006. The 2026 report's theme is "No Security Without Food Security." Current affairsSEBI Notifies Common Advertisement Code 2026: Celebrity Endorsements Restricted to Brand-Level, Unified Rules for All IntermediariesSEBI on 8 October 2026 notified the SEBI (Intermediaries) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026 — a Common Advertisement Code for all regulated entities including mutual funds, brokers, investment advisers, and research analysts. Celebrity endorsements are now restricted to brand-level only; costs of celebrity ads cannot be charged to mutual fund schemes. The Code also mandates standardised risk disclosures and governs social media financial promotion. Current affairsIndia-Canada CEPA Negotiations: Second Round Concluded, Both Sides Target Year-End Conclusion of Free Trade AgreementIndia and Canada are accelerating negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with both sides backing an early conclusion by end of 2026. The second round of negotiations was concluded in May 2026 at New Delhi, covering goods, services, intellectual property, and technical barriers. The agreement aims to expand bilateral trade to CAD 70 billion by 2030 and addresses diversification of India's supply chains in critical minerals and clean energy. Current affairsExercise KONKAN-26: India-UK Annual Bilateral Naval Exercise at Plymouth with INS TrishulExercise KONKAN-26, the annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the UK Royal Navy, is being conducted off Plymouth, England from October 8–15, 2026. India's guided-missile stealth frigate INS Trishul is participating in harbour-phase professional exchanges and at-sea tactical manoeuvres. The exercise reinforces the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership outlined in the India-UK Vision 2035 and demonstrates the two navies' commitment to open, secure, and free seas. Current affairsIndia Renames 28 Ladakh Sites: Survey of India Standardises Names Along LAC, China ObjectsIndia standardised names of 28 strategic geographical features in Ladakh on October 2, 2026, via official Survey of India maps. China protested, claiming the sites belong to China and refusing to recognise Ladakh's UT status. India's MEA firmly rebuffed the objection, reaffirming Ladakh as an integral part of India. The exercise mirrors China's own naming exercises in Arunachal Pradesh and escalates the cartographic dimension of the India-China territorial dispute.
In previous-year questions
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (2026) recommended that India form a quadrilateral agreement on polar affairs with which group of countries?UPSC · Current Affairs
- The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has mapped how many elephant corridors across India?UPSC · Current Affairs
- What is a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), and how does it differ from a Parliamentary Standing Committee? Consider the following: 1. A JPC is constituted for a specific purpose (such as scrutinising one bill) and ceases to exist on submitting its report. 2. A Standing Committee is a permanent committee that examines all bills referred to it in a given subject area across sessions. 3. Both JPC and Standing Committees can summon witnesses and call for documents. 4. The FCRA Amendment Bill 2026 JPC has 31 members — 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. Which of the above statements are correct?UPSC · Current Affairs
- As of the Supreme Court's August 2026 order on declaring cancer a notifiable disease, how many of India's 36 states and Union Territories had already notified cancer, following a parliamentary standing committee recommendation?UPSC · Current Affairs
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs presented its report "India's Role and Presence in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions" in the Lok Sabha on July 30, 2026. The report was chaired by which Member of Parliament?UPSC · Current Affairs