DAILY GK 26-27 OCT 2026
1.
12TH BRICS PARLIAMENTARY FORUM· The 12th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Parliamentary Forum was held under the theme “Fostering Parliaments For People-Centric Development” in New Delhi.
· The two-day forum, inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, concluded with the adoption of a ‘Joint Declaration’ focusing on parliamentary cooperation, global governance reforms, counter-terrorism and sustainable development.
· BRICS Theatre festival, organised by the Ministry of Culture, was held in New Delhi under the theme of the “Shared Stories, Shared Futures”.
· The festival, hosted by the National School of Drama (NSD) under the Ministry of Culture.
· BRICS Business Forum: India under its 2026 BRICS presidency theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, hosted the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi.
· 2nd BRICS FMCBG Meeting: Sanjay Malhotra, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) along with Anuradha Thakur, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance (MoF), co-chaired the 2nd BRICS Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
· RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, along with Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank (NDB) and DEA of MoF, inaugurated the BNKP, a centralized digital platform designed to consolidate and share the knowledge and best practices from across BRICS Working Groups.
2. AYUSHMAN VAY VANDANA INITIATIVE COMPLETES TWO YEARS
· The Ayushman Vay Vandana (AVV) healthcare initiative, launched for all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status, completed two years of implementation.
· The initiative is implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW).
· Under AVV, eligible senior citizens receive health coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
· Senior citizens aged 70 years and above belonging to families already covered under AB PM-JAY receive an additional top-up cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year, exclusively for themselves.
UNEP EMISSIONS GAP REPORT 2026
· The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the 17th edition of the Emissions Gap Report (EGR) 2026, titled ‘The Point of Return’, warning that temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C global warming limit is now unavoidable without urgent reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
· Global GHG emissions reached a total of 58.4 gigatons of CO2 equivalent (Gt CO2e) in 2025, showing a decline of just 0.1Gt CO2e from 2024 levels.
· Lowest 1.5°C overshoot scenario: With stringent mitigation action starting in 2025, there is around a 50% chance of returning to 1.5°C by 2100, after peak warming of 1.7–1.8°C.
· Emission Targets: Achieving this pathway requires GHG emissions to fall by 18% by 2030 ,45% by 2035 and 69% by 2040, compared with 2025 levels.
· Full implementation of the new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by around two-thirds of countries is projected to reduce global emissions by only:5–8% by 2030 and 11–15% by 2035, compared with 2025 levels.
3. NAAS AND CAST SIGN A 5-YEAR AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT
· India’s National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States of America (USA)-based Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) to strengthen agricultural research, scientific collaboration, capacity development and knowledge exchange.
· The agreement was signed during the 2026 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, organised by the World Food Prize Foundation (WFPF) in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, under the theme “Before Hunger Wins.”
· Framework: The newly signed agreement establishes a framework for educational programs, publications and scientific exchanges between the USA and India.
· NAAS: Established in 1990, NAAS is a premier agricultural thin tank and science academy in India that promotes excellence in agricultural sciences, recognises distinguished scientists and provides scientific input to help inform agricultural policy, with headquarters in New Delhi.
4. 153RD INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION ASSEMBLY
· The 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), hosted by Mussa Azzan Zungu, Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, was held in Arusha, Tanzania.
· Central Theme: The general debate was centred on the theme “Enhancing good governance and empowering communities through inclusivity, trust and opportunities for all”.
· An Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Harivansh Narayan Singh, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament) attended the assembly.
· The 5-day long assembly concluded successfully with the adoption of Arusha Communique and series of resolutions and motions on disability rights, climate change, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and United Nation (UN) governance.
· Election of IPU President: Milton Dick, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia, has been elected as the 32nd President of IPU for a period of 3 years.
· The 154th IPU Assembly is scheduled to be in 2027, in Geneva, Switzerland.
5. UN REPORTS ON ARMED CONFLICTS WORLDWIDE
· The United Nations (UN), released the 2026 UN Secretary-General’s Report on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), revealing that at least 25 women and girls were killed daily in armed conflicts worldwide during 2025.
· According to the report, over 37,000 civilians were killed in armed conflicts worldwide in 2025, with women and girls accounting for 25% (one in four deaths), double their share in 2021.
· More than 37,000 civilians were killed in armed conflicts in 2025.
· Around 750 million women and girls lived within 50 kilometers(km) of active conflicts, 40 million more than in 2024.
· Violence: The UN verified 9,788 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025, nearly four times the 2022 figure. In Haiti, reported cases rose by 163%.
· Poverty: Around 170 million women and girls faced conflict and extreme poverty, surviving on less than USD 3 per day.
· Women spent five times as many hours on unpaid care work as men in conflict-affected countries.
6. OFFSHORE PATROL VESSEL ‘SRISHTI’ LAUNCHED
· Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), a premier Defence Public Sector Undertaking which works under the Ministry of Defence (MoD), launched the Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel (NGOPV) named ‘Srishti (Yard 1283)’, developed for the Indian Navy (IN), at its shipbuilding facility in Vaddem, Goa.
· Indian Naval Ship (INS) Srishti is the 4th vessel developed under the Government of India (GoI)’s NGOPV programme and 2nd NGOPV built by GSL after “Shachi” which was formally launched in March 2026.
7. WJP RULE OF LAW INDEX 2026
· The World Justice Project released the latest edition of the “WJP Rule of Law Index 2026”, the world’s leading source of original, independent rule of law data.
· India with an overall score of 0.48, ranked at 88th spot out of 143 countries (95% of world’s population) covered in the index, down from 86th (in 2025).
· Denmark topped the index with a score of 0.90, followed by Norway and Finland.
· For the 9th consecutive year, the rule of law has declined worldwide, with scores falling in 62% of countries.
· Venezuela with an overall score of 0.26 ranks lowest in the index; followed by Afghanistan, Haiti, Cambodia and Nicaragua ranked at 142nd, 141st, 140th and 139th spots, respectively.
8. IUCN REPORT ON CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS
· The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released the first global coral reef assessment under its Red List of Ecosystems(RLE) at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Yerevan, Armenia.
· As per the report, nearly all shallow-water coral reef ecosystems (96% of the total coral reefs assessed by IUCN) have been classified as “Critically Endangered (CR)” and are expected to collapse by 2075.
· The Red List of Ecosystems global assessment has covered all coral reef ecosystems in warm, shallow waters, spanning 127 tropical and subtropical ecoregions, and encompassing 188,362 square kilometers (sq. km) of coral reefs in more than 80 countries and territories.
· Each ecoregion was examined against 5 criteria: reduction in distribution; restricted distribution; environmental degradation; disruption of biotic processes; and quantitative risk analysis.
· Data Deficient Ecosystems: Of the 127 coral reef ecosystems assessed by the IUCN, four were classified as Data Deficient (DD) due to insufficient scientific data to accurately evaluate their risk of collapse.
9. OSKAR KLEIN MEDAL
· Indian theoretical physicist Ashoke Sen, a professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) in Bengaluru, became the first Indian physicist to receive the prestigious Oskar Klein Medal 2026 for his pioneering contributions to string theory and theoretical physics.
· Instituted in 1988, the medal is named after Swedish theoretical physicist Oskar Klein (1894–1977), known for his contributions to theoretical physics.
· Awarded annually by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
10. 70TH BALLON d’Or
· The 70th edition of the Ballon d’Or (2026) award ceremony took place at the Palladium Theatre in London.
· Ballon d’Or Award (Men’s category): Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane won the 2026 Men’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball Award), becoming the 1st Englishman to win the award in 25 years after Michael Owen (in 2001) and 5th Englishman to win the title award.
· Kane also secured the Gerd Müller Trophy (Striker of the Year) in men’s category for scoring 73 goals.
· Ballon d’Or Award (Women’s category): Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas clinched her career’s 3rd Women Ballon d’Or award after previously winning the title in 2021 and 2022.
· Kopa Trophy: Barcelona FC and Spain winger Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy (in men’s category) for the 3rd consecutive year, in recognition of his performances during the 2025-26 season.
· Barcelona midfielder Vicky Lopez clinched the Kopa Trophy (in women’s category) for the 2nd consecutive year.
· Socrates Awards: Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka received the Socrates Award, established in 2022 to recognise the footballer for carrying out the best humanitarian work worldwide over the previous year.
· Club of the Year: Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona won the Men’s and Women’s Clubs of the Year title, respectively.
