Polity & Governance Current Affairs October 2026

The Ministry of Cooperation has issued the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2026 (MSCARO 2026), a standardised, risk-based audit-reporting framework for multi-state cooperative societies, under Section 73(6) of the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023. It extends to cooperatives the company-audit discipline of CARO, requiring auditors to report in a uniform format on fixed assets, loans, statutory dues and internal controls. Phase 1 applies to societies with over Rs 1,000 crore in relevant financial parameters, with later phases covering those above Rs 50 crore. The Ministry of Cooperation was carved out in July 2021 under Amit Shah.

A Lok Sabha bulletin reconstituted all 24 Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees (DRSCs) with effect from 26 September 2026, with Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan naming the chairpersons. Shashi Tharoor (Congress) was reappointed to External Affairs, Bhartruhari Mahtab got Finance, Radha Mohan Singh Defence and Nishikant Dubey Communications and IT, while Sudhanshu Trivedi replaced TMC's Dola Sen as Commerce panel chair. Each committee has 31 members — 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha — and a one-year term; 16 are serviced by the Lok Sabha Secretariat and 8 by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2026 came into force on 1 October 2026 under a gazette notification of 16 September 2026, amending Section 13(3) of the parent 1969 Act. Information given after one year but within two years now needs approval from a District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or authorised Executive Magistrate, while registration after two years needs an order from a Judicial Magistrate of the first class. It is administered by the Registrar General of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Parliament had cleared the Bill in the Lok Sabha on 31 July and the Rajya Sabha on 4 August 2026.

Three former High Court Chief Justices — Sunita Agarwal (Gujarat), Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya (Delhi) and Aparesh Kumar Singh (Telangana) — were sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court on 5 October 2026, lifting its working strength from 34 to 37 against a sanctioned strength of 38 including the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court (Amendment) Act, 2026 had raised that sanctioned figure from 34 to 38. The Collegium recommended the three names on 28 September 2026 and the President made the appointments under Article 124(2) of the Constitution. With Justice Agarwal's elevation the court now has three women judges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the centenary of the Union Public Service Commission on 1 October 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, releasing a commemorative coin, a postage stamp and the book '100 Landmark Judgements - Shaping the Policies of UPSC and Public Service Commissions in India'. The Commission was constituted as the Public Service Commission on 1 October 1926. A year-long centenary programme begun on 1 October 2025 closed with a 'Shatabdi Samaroh - Manthan' session. Chairman Dr Ajay Kumar set out a 'Trust, Transparency and Technology' agenda with digital e-admit cards, face authentication and a Centre of Excellence.

The Central Armed Police Forces Act, 2026 came into force on 8 October 2026, six months after receiving Presidential assent on 9 April 2026, giving statutory footing to the share of senior CAPF posts reserved for IPS officers on deputation. The Act prescribes IPS deputation for 50% of Inspector General posts and at least 67% of Additional Director General posts, and covers all Special Director General and Director General posts. It applies to the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB. The move settles a long-running cadre dispute between IPS officers and directly recruited CAPF cadre officers over promotion prospects in India's largest central police organisations.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 'PRAHAAR - CT Policy and Strategy' conference in New Delhi on 28 September 2026, calling for a ten-year counter-terrorism roadmap and an automated response mechanism reaching down to the police-station level. PRAHAAR - *Policy for Response Against Hostile Activities and Radicalism* - was unveiled on 23 February 2026 as India's first national counter-terrorism policy and rests on seven pillars: prevention, response, aggregating internal capacities, human rights, attenuating conditions for terrorism, aligning international efforts, and recovery and resilience. Shah also launched an Extradition Portal; 288 fugitives were brought back from 36 countries between 2019 and 2026.

The Union Cabinet approved on 14 October a Productivity Linked Bonus equal to 78 days' wages for non-gazetted Indian Railways employees, entailing an outlay of Rs 2,009.61 crore for 11,40,770 staff. The maximum payable per employee is Rs 17,951, calculated on a monthly wage ceiling of Rs 7,000; gazetted officers are excluded. The bonus is released every year before the Durga Puja and Dussehra holidays. The quantum matches the 78 days cleared in September 2025, but the outlay is higher than that year's Rs 1,865.68 crore because the covered workforce rose from 10,91,146, while the per-employee cap stays unchanged.

The Ladakh administration has notified Sankoo as the Union Territory's eighth district, carved out of Kargil district. Notification S.O. 284, issued by the Revenue Department on 16 October 2026, places the tehsils of Sankoo, GM Pore, TSG and Taisuru in the new district. Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena announced the decision after clearance from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Sankoo lies in the Suru Valley, about 42 km south of Kargil town at roughly 3,150 m, known for its apricot orchards. It follows the five districts - Changthang, Drass, Nubra, Sham and Zanskar - created in April 2026.

President Droupadi Murmu appointed Governors to six states - four fresh appointments and two transfers - with each taking effect when the appointee assumes charge. Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar moves to Tamil Nadu as full-time Governor and Om Prakash Mathur to Keralam. Braj Mohan Ram, a senior leader from Jharkhand, goes to Odisha, succeeding Hari Babu Kambhampati; Sudha Yadav, former MP from Mahendragarh, becomes Karnataka Governor in place of Thaawarchand Gehlot; Dhal Singh Bisen, a former Balaghat MP, takes Uttarakhand from Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh; and Dushyant Gautam becomes Sikkim Governor, the post Mathur vacates.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India observed its 33rd Foundation Day on 12 October 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, with Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant as chief guest. Constituted in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the Commission has dealt with 24,33,716 cases, including 3,100 taken up *suo motu*, and has recommended monetary relief exceeding Rs 274 crore in 9,085 cases. The day was followed by a national conference on the theme "Water, the Nectar of Life: Right to Water for Human Dignity", extending the rights-based reading of Article 21 that the Supreme Court has built over decades.

The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Digital India BHASHINI Division under MeitY launched 'CAG-BHASHINI Anuvaad' in New Delhi on 5 October 2026, at the closing ceremony of Hindi Pakhwada 2026. The platform does AI-based, context-aware multilingual translation of audit documents while holding technical audit terminology consistent, so that audit reports reach legislatures and citizens in Indian languages far faster than manual translation allows. BHASHINI — 'BHAShini INterface for India' — was launched in 2022 under the National Language Translation Mission and now supports 36 Indian text languages and 23 voice languages across 800-plus government websites.