Daily Current Affairs · Last published 3 October 2026
UPSC Prelims Current Affairs: 3 October 2026
The Supreme Court stays a 2008 Ahmedabad blasts execution and voids a flawed SARFAESI auction, the Kautilya Economic Conclave opens, and West Bengal reintroduces tigers at Buxa.
Supreme Court stays execution of 2008 Ahmedabad blasts convict Abbu Barelvi
The Supreme Court on 1 October 2026 stayed the execution of the death sentence awarded to Ahmed Bawa alias Abbu Abubakar Barelvi, one of 38 men sentenced to death for the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts that killed 56 people. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Augustine George Masih passed the order while hearing Barelvi's challenge to the Gujarat High Court judgment that had upheld his conviction and death sentence, and issued notice to the Gujarat government. Barelvi's counsel argued that his conviction rested entirely on an allegation of conspiracy.
Supreme Court invalidates IFCI's SARFAESI auction of Ooty resort over rule breaches
The Supreme Court on 30 September 2026 set aside a Madras High Court judgment and invalidated IFCI Limited's SARFAESI auction of Sterling Holiday Resorts' Fernhill property in Ooty, holding that the sanctity courts give to confirmed auction sales presupposes compliance with the law and cannot protect a sale conducted in breach of mandatory procedure. A Bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe found that IFCI had received a bid while a Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal restraint order was in force, concluded the sale before the mandatory 30 day redemption notice period under the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 had run out, and issued the sale certificate to a partnership firm that did not exist on the date fixed for the auction. The Court allowed the borrower's appeals and dismissed the purchaser's, ruling that no sanctity in law attaches to an auction conducted in such defiance of the SARFAESI Act's safeguards.
5th Kautilya Economic Conclave opens in Delhi on resilience amid global flux
The fifth edition of the Kautilya Economic Conclave opened in New Delhi on 3 October 2026 and runs until 5 October under the theme Resilience in an Age of Flux, an initiative of the Institute of Economic Growth organised in partnership with the Ministry of Finance. The three day conclave brings together more than 180 policymakers, economists, academics and financial experts, including over 80 international participants from around 30 countries, with Vice President C P Radhakrishnan delivering the inaugural address. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is addressing a special plenary titled Resilience in an Age of Flux: India's Economic Priorities, on sustaining growth and macroeconomic stability amid global fragmentation, technological disruption and recurrent shocks.
SEBI directs stock brokers to display investor awareness messages under Project Jagrook
The Securities and Exchange Board of India on 1 October 2026 issued a circular directing stock brokers to display investor awareness messages on their websites and trading apps under Project Jagrook, its nationwide investor awareness initiative, ahead of World Investor Week 2026. Brokers must display the messages alongside existing risk disclosures on their websites from 5 to 31 October, after which the messages become mandatory on the landing page from 1 November, while trading apps must display the messages and risk disclosures on alternate days from that date. The circular also directs stock exchanges and depositories to notify their members and disseminate SEBI's investor awareness messages.
Goyal tells G20 Trade Ministers India has no structural excess capacity, defends forced labour record
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee on 2 October 2026 that India does not have structural excess capacity in the sectors identified by the United States and that it has already acted to prohibit imports of goods made using forced labour. Goyal cited Article 23 of the Constitution, which prohibits forced labour as a fundamental right enforceable by the Supreme Court, and noted India's ratification of ILO Conventions 29 and 105 along with a July 2026 amendment to its Foreign Trade Policy banning forced labour imports. He said measures on both forced labour and excess capacity must be based on specific, verifiable evidence rather than presumptions about entire countries and must remain WTO compliant, a point relevant given the United States had already levied a 10 percent tariff on India over forced labour concerns and was separately investigating it for excess capacity.
G7 agrees to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel as prices soar
The Group of Seven nations agreed on 2 October 2026 to release up to 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel from their emergency strategic reserves over the next four months, coordinated through the International Energy Agency, after Middle East supply disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict involving Iran pushed fuel prices higher. The release will be frontloaded, with a substantial diesel component released within the first 20 days by G7 members and partners. The announcement came after United States President Donald Trump pressed European governments to release their diesel stockpiles, even as China simultaneously moved to restrict its own fuel exports, adding further pressure to an already tight global diesel market.
West Bengal reintroduces tigers in Buxa Tiger Reserve with Bihar origin tigress
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav released a three year old tigress, T138, into a specially built enclosure in West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve on 2 October 2026, launching the state's first tiger reintroduction programme in the presence of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The tigress was brought from Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve under a soft release process that keeps her in a 2.3 hectare enclosure to acclimatise before she is freed into the wider reserve, and the state plans to introduce two to three more tigers over the next two months. Buxa's resident tiger population had disappeared by the late 1990s, and the National Tiger Conservation Authority's decision to attempt reintroduction follows about eight years of preparatory study, even as wildlife scientists have questioned whether the reserve's prey base and habitat, which still has villages inside its core area, are ready.
BSF shoots dead two suspected Pakistani intruders along Punjab border
The Border Security Force shot dead two suspected Pakistani nationals attempting to cross the India-Pakistan international border near the Rajoke border outpost in Punjab's Tarn Taran district on 2 October 2026. The men were spotted moving through paddy fields towards the Indian side and continued advancing after being challenged, following which BSF personnel opened fire, while a third person managed to turn back towards Pakistan. A flag meeting was held with Pakistan Rangers the same evening, after which it was decided to hand over the bodies once legal formalities, including post mortem examination, were completed.