Current Affairs - National

The first Public Service Commission in India was established on 1 October 1926 under the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1919. Sir Ross Barker served as its first Chairman, along with four members. The establishment followed recommendations of the Lee Commission, which had been constituted to examine issues related to the Indian Civil Service and public service recruitment. The commission initially functioned as an advisory body. Later, the Government of India Act, 1935 provided for a Federal Public Service Commission and Provincial Public Service Commissions. After the Constitution came into force in 1950, the Federal Public Service Commission became the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), a constitutional body under Articles 315–323.

India finished in 10th position at the WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 competition, marking its best performance to date in the global skills competition. The Indian delegation won six silver medals and received 20 Medals for Excellence. This was an improvement over its 13th-place finish at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, where India won four bronze medals and 12 Medals for Excellence. India sent its largest-ever delegation of 70 contestants competing across 63 skills in Shanghai. The six silver medals came in Bakery, Dental Prosthetics, Digital Interactive Media Design, Industrial Design Technology, Logistics and Freight Forwarding, and Retail Sales.

New Delhi was the location where the Livestock Insurance Portal was launched by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying on September 28, 2026. The portal was introduced to provide livestock insurance services through a single digital platform. It supports insurance policy issuance, claim processing and tracking, monitoring, reporting, and online access to insurance-related information. The portal is available in Hindi, English, and 11 regional languages. Livestock insurance under the National Livestock Mission aims to protect farmers from financial losses caused by the death of insured animals and encourage wider adoption of livestock insurance.

Delhi secured the 268th rank among the 1,000 cities assessed in the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2026, making it the highest-ranked Indian city in the index. Bengaluru ranked 311th, while Mumbai stood at 330th. Delhi performed particularly strongly in the Human Capital category, where it ranked 13th, and secured 116th in Economics. However, its rankings were lower in Quality of Life, Environment and Governance, at 781st, 915th and 415th respectively. The index evaluates cities across five dimensions: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance. New York topped the global rankings.

Paneer is the product name that FSSAI has proposed restricting for use on non-milk dairy analogue products. The draft Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Amendment Regulations, 2026, seeks to prohibit products licensed or registered under the “Analogue in Dairy Context” category from using the word “paneer” in their names or labelling. The proposal aims to prevent consumers from being misled about the nature and ingredients of food products. The draft was published on September 24, 2026, and FSSAI has invited objections and suggestions from stakeholders for a period of 60 days.