Daily Current Affairs 13 October 2026

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the MeitY-IndiaAI Centre of Excellence in AI, known as the Centre for AI in Keralam (CAIK), in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, under the IndiaAI Mission.

Digital University Kerala will serve as the implementing agency for the initiative, with Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd acting as the industry partner. The centre has also announced its first cohort comprising 15 AI startups.

The PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), has completed two years.

Launched in 2024 for an initial period of two years, the scheme has now been extended until March 2028. It is to be noted that 26.59 lakh Electric Vehicles (EVs) have been sold under the scheme as of June 2026.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has reconstituted the Press Council of India (PCI) by nominating 13 journalists. The PCI is a statutory, autonomous, and quasi-judicial body comprising 1 Chairperson and 28 other members.

The 28 members include 13 working journalists (6 editors and 7 others), 6 newspaper-owner representatives, 5 Members of Parliament, and 3 specialised-field representatives. Retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai serves as the Chairperson of the PCI for a 3-year term.

According to a report by the World Bank (WB), the GDP growth of India for FY27 is revised upwards to 7.1% from the earlier projection of 6.6%.

Additionally, the WB projects the GDP growth of India at 7.2% for FY28 and 7% for FY29.

Hical Technologies Pvt Ltd, an Indian aerospace and defence manufacturer, has signed an MoU with France-based Safran Aerosystems to explore the establishment of a Joint Venture in India for the manufacturing of complex systems for Dassault Rafale systems.

The Technology Development Board (TDB) has signed an agreement with Peptris Technologies in Bengaluru to provide financial support of ₹86 crore under the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund.

The financial support is allocated for a project titled “VIGOR: Advancing AI-Discovered Molecules from Bench to Clinic”, which has a total project cost of ₹172 crore. The project aims to advance four drug candidates from Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-4 to TRL-6.

India has highlighted that its forest and tree cover has expanded to 82.74 million hectares, accounting for 25.17% of the geographical area of the country, at the 28th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Committee on Forestry (COFO 28) held in Rome, Italy.

The biennial session of COFO 28, bringing together 128 member countries, was held alongside the 10th World Forest Week under the theme “Forests for food, resilience and prosperity”. The session was chaired by Pierre Taty of the Republic of the Congo.

DRDO has successfully conducted the flight trial of an indigenous High-Altitude Platform (HAPS) aimed at creating a long-endurance stratospheric aerial surveillance platform.

The HAPS was developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. During the trial, the platform reached 21 km Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) and maintained 20 km AMSL for over 30 minutes.

Additionally, DRDO has successfully conducted the maiden live jump trial of the indigenous Advanced High-Altitude Parachute (AHAP) at Nyoma (Mudh Drop Zone) in Ladakh, demonstrating its efficacy and tactical employability in extremely high-altitude terrain.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi have presided over the launch of ‘Bharat Rice’ by the Indian Army in New Delhi to improve the quality of daily rations and streamline frontline logistics for defense forces.

During the event, a five-year MoU was also signed between the Indian Army and the Food Corporation of India, acting as a strategic force multiplier.

The Indian Navy has commissioned ‘INS Mangrol’, its third Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC), at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

The vessel was built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) in Kochi with over 80% indigenous content, including the indigenous Abhay hull-mounted sonar.

HCLTech has signed a global partnership agreement with Anthropic, an AI company, to expand the deployment of agentic AI across enterprises, with a focus on safety, cybersecurity, and governance.

Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a South African jurist and human rights pioneer of Indian origin, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for her efforts to promote peace and international law.

It is to be noted that she became the first woman to open a law practice in Natal province of South Africa in 1967.

American economists Robert E Hall (Stanford University) and Michael Woodford (Columbia University) have been jointly awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The pair was honoured “for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”. The laureates will share a cash prize of 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million).

Anne Carson, a Canadian poet and essayist, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 by the Swedish Academy.

She has been recognised for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature. With this, she becomes the 19th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The award carries a total prize amount of 12 million Swedish kronor (SEK).

Palle Rama Rao, a renowned metallurgist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad (UoH), passed away at the age of 89.

He was a recipient of Padma Shri in 1989, Padma Bhushan in 2001, and Padma Vibhushan in 2011.