Daily Current Affairs 6 October 2026

The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) has completed 12 years of implementation. The scheme, launched in 2014, is a part of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) under the Ministry of Rural Development.

The scheme targets rural youth aged between 15 and 35 years. It is to be noted that DDU-GKY has successfully trained over 18.47 lakh candidates since its inception.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has inaugurated the Seva First Innovation Challenge (SFIC) for the South Zone in IISc Bengaluru.

The initiative aims to encourage youth to identify community-level problems and develop innovative, testable, and scalable solutions.

Justice Surya Kant, the Chief Justice of India, has inaugurated the first Victim Rights Centre (VRC) of India at the Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) premises in Patna, Bihar. He also released a formal publication providing information about the newly established facility.

During the event, he flagged off 9 Multi-Utility Vehicles (MUVs) and launched a Transgender Helpline under the Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Access to Resources (SITARA) Scheme.

The Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has maintained the interest rates for all Small Savings Schemes (SSS) for the third quarter (Q2) of the FY27. This marks the 14th consecutive quarter without a revision since the last adjustment in December 2024.

The interest rates for Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) are fixed at 8.2%. The rates for National Savings Certificate (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), and Public Provident Fund (PPF) are 7.7%, 7.5%, and 7.1% respectively.

It is to be noted that the MoF has performed quarterly reviews of SSS interest rates since 2016 based on the methodology of the Shyamala Gopinath Committee (2023). Under this framework, SSS rates are kept 25 to 100 basis points (bps) higher than the government bond yields.

Anup Bagchi has been appointed as the MD and CEO of HDFC Bank for a 3-year term starting October 27, 2026. He succeeds Sashidhar Jagdishan.

Anup Kumar Saha is appointed as the MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd for 3 years, starting January 2027. He succeeds Ashok Vaswani. Mahesh Muralidhar Pai has been appointed as the MD & CEO of the South Indian Bank for a 3-year term starting October 2026. He succeeds PR Seshadri.

SEBI has launched a nationwide investor-awareness campaign named “Project Jagrook” in Chandigarh, which will run until March 2027.

The initiative aims to improve financial literacy in rural areas and educational institutions, while warning investors against anonymous tips, finfluencers, and exaggerated return claims.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd has launched a health insurance product named ‘VIBE’ specifically for the Gen Z demographic. The insurance plan is designed for young adults within the age group of 18 to 35 years.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has signed an MoU with SkyPulse Solutions International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Pvt Ltd for the acquisition, financing, leasing, and lifecycle support of 30 HAL-manufactured helicopters (single and twin-engine variants).

The deal is valued at ₹2,491 crore. The induction of the helicopters is scheduled to begin in FY28.

The Technology Development Board has signed an agreement with the Bengaluru-based BigEndian Semiconductors to provide financial assistance of ₹130 crore for the execution of “Project VeerAI”. The total cost of the project is estimated at ₹260 crore.

The financial support is sanctioned under the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The project aims to advance the technology from Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-5 to TRL-9 to ensure its commercial readiness.

According to a report titled “Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Schools 2015-25” released jointly by the WHO and UNICEF, India has the highest number of children globally without access to sanitation services, with 50 million. This accounts for about 20% of the 244 million children globally who lack such services as of 2025.

Based on current trends, global projections for 2030 estimate that 84% of children will have access to water services (10% with no service), 81% will have sanitation access (7% with no service), and 79% will have hygiene access (12% with no service).

India has participated in the 14th East Asia Summit - Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) and the 23rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Economic Ministers Consultation held in Manila, Philippines.

The Indian delegation for these high-level meetings was led by Nitin Kumar Yadav. It is to be noted that the bilateral trade between India and the ASEAN region reached a total of $128.38 billion in 2025-26.

The Joint Military Exercise between India and the UAE named ‘MOUNTAIN GUARDIAN 2026’ has commenced at the Foreign Training Node in Uttarakhand.

The Indian contingent is composed of troops from a Bhairav Battalion, while the UAE Army is represented by a Mountain Infantry Battalion. A total of 92 personnel are participating in the exercise.

Dinesh Pant and Girija Subramanian have been appointed as the Whole-Time Members of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh have been elevated as judges of the Supreme Court. With their appointments, the working strength of the top court has increased to 37.

The Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA), the National Academy of Art under the Ministry of Culture, has announced 20 awards at the 65th National Exhibition of Art (NEA) held at Rabindra Bhavan in New Delhi. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat felicitated the awardees during the ceremony.

Key awardees recognized for their artistic contributions include Chandra Shekhar Sain (Sculpture), Gopal Chandra Naskar (Painting), Pankaj Kumar Sharma (Drawing), and Pritam Madhukar Deuskar (Printmaking).