LEGAL NEWS
Supreme Court: 14 States Agree to Raise District Judicial Officers’ Retirement Age to 62
• On 26 October 2026, the Supreme Court of India stated that 14 states had agreed to increase the retirement age of District Judicial Officers from 60 to 62 years.
• The bench comprised Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana. On 4 September 2026, the Court had directed states to raise the retirement age.
• The Court directed the 14 consenting states to amend their service rules, preferably within two months, to implement the revised retirement age.
• Until the amendments take effect, eligible judicial officers who reach 60 in these states will not retire before 62, subject to assessment of their suitability and performance by the concerned High Court.
• The Court permitted eligible judicial officers who retired on or after 31 March 2026 in seven states to opt to rejoin judicial service, provided they had not taken up other employment.
• The seven states covered by the rejoining option are Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
• The Supreme Court declined to urgently hear individual pleas from officers nearing retirement or recently retired, observing that the matter concerned the Court and the states. The Chief Justice expressed hope that other states would also increase the retirement age.
• Article 233 deals with the appointment, posting and promotion of district judges by the Governor in consultation with the High Court, while Article 235 vests control over subordinate courts in the High Court. The 2002 decision in All India Judges’ Association v. Union of India set the subordinate judiciary’s retirement age at 60 years, subject to suitability assessment for continued service.
APPOINTMENTS
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Wins Brazil’s 2026 Presidential Runoff
• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff on 25 October 2026, securing approximately 51.8% of the vote against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s 48.2%.
• Lula, aged 80, is scheduled to begin his fourth presidential term on 5 January 2027.
• In the first round held on 4 October 2026, Flávio Bolsonaro received 47.03% of the vote, while Lula secured 45.16%.
• Lula’s victory marked the first time since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985 that a candidate who trailed in the first round won the runoff.
• Lula previously served as president from 2003 to 2010 and returned to office in 2023 after winning the 2022 election.
• Flávio Bolsonaro is a Brazilian senator and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for involvement in an attempted coup.
• Justice Cristiano Zanin extended voting hours by two hours, until 7 p.m. local time, following complaints about public-transport problems. Vote counting was paused while voting continued.
• Brazil is a federal presidential republic with a four-year presidential term and a two-round election system. Its Constitution was promulgated in 1988; its capital is Brasília, its currency is the Brazilian real, and it is a member of BRICS and Mercosur.
STATE NEWS
Ladakh Declared India’s First 100% Organic Union Territory
• On 25 October 2026, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena declared Ladakh India’s first 100% organic Union Territory.
• The initiative covers both Leh and Kargil districts and aims to eliminate synthetic fertilisers, chemical pesticides and toxic soil additives from agriculture.
• Organic farming avoids synthetic fertilisers and pesticides and follows prescribed standards for production, processing and certification.
• The National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) establishes organic production standards and accredits certification bodies. It is administered by APEDA under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed in July 2021 with the Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency to support Ladakh’s organic farming transition.
• In July 2026, the Lieutenant Governor ordered a complete prohibition on the procurement, distribution, sale, marketing and use of chemical and synthetic fertilisers for agriculture across Ladakh.
• By 27 July 2026, 207 villages had received organic certification, including 102 villages across Kargil, Dras, Zanskar and Sham certified on that date.
• Ladakh’s organic produce includes apricots, sea buckthorn, buckwheat, barley and vegetables. Sikkim became India’s first fully organic state in 2016, while Ladakh became a Union Territory on 31 October 2019.
Ahmedabad to Host 2029 Senior World Weightlifting Championships
• Ahmedabad, Gujarat, will host the 2029 Senior World Weightlifting Championships, marking the first time India will host the senior edition of the competition.
• The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) confirmed the decision on 25 October 2026, following its Executive Board meeting in Ningbo, China.
• Ahmedabad secured the hosting rights after the IWF considered bids from Russia and Venezuela. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced the decision.
• The IWF awarded the 2030 Senior World Weightlifting Championships to Moscow, Russia, at the same Executive Board meeting.
• The 2029 championship will serve as a qualifying event for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, which India is scheduled to host in Ahmedabad.
• Competitive weightlifting consists of two lifts: the snatch, in which the barbell is lifted overhead in one continuous movement, and the clean and jerk, in which it is lifted to the shoulders before being raised overhead.
• Athletes compete in different weight categories, and their result is determined by the combined total of their best successful snatch and clean-and-jerk attempts.
• Gujarat previously hosted the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad and the 2026 Asian Senior Weightlifting Championships in Gandhinagar, strengthening its record of hosting major weightlifting events.
AWARDS
Sitaram Raul Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 Category Award
• Indian photographer and fine artist Sitaram Raul won the ‘Behaviour: Invertebrates’ category at the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
• His award-winning photograph, titled Shifting Sand, depicts an Indian Buthacus scorpion burrowing into sand near Sam village in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert as sunrise approached.
• The international competition is organised by the Natural History Museum, London, and received more than 65,000 entries worldwide in 2026.
• Italian photographer Federico Veronesi won the overall 2026 award for The Aftermath, depicting an elephant carrying its deceased calf.
• The exhibition of the 2026 winning photographs opened at the Natural History Museum on 16 October 2026.
• Scorpions are invertebrate arachnids. The Indian Buthacus scorpion uses its pincers to dig burrows that help it escape extreme desert heat.
• Stiff, elongated bristles known as sand combs help the scorpion move across sand dunes without sinking. Macro photography captures small subjects at close range and is well suited to detailed images of invertebrates.
• Raul is based in Badlapur, Maharashtra, and has approximately 14 years of experience in wildlife and macro photography. In 2025, his photograph Nature Reclaims its Space, featuring fruit bats in Maharashtra, received a ‘Highly Commended’ distinction in the competition’s Urban Wildlife category.
Shabari Naturals Wins G-Mark – Global Design Award 2026
• Shabari Naturals, a Maharashtra government initiative, received the G-Mark – Global Design Award on 25 October 2026 for packaging inspired by traditional tribal art and culture.
• The Japan Institute of Design Promotion is scheduled to formally present the award in Tokyo on 4 November 2026.
• Leena Bansod, Managing Director of the Nashik-headquartered Shabari Tribal Finance and Development Corporation (STFDC), will accept the award on behalf of the Maharashtra government.
• The award recognises packaging that showcases tribal art, cultural traditions and legends. It allows Shabari Naturals to display the G-Mark logo on its product packaging.
• Shabari Naturals had previously received the India Design Mark for its design efforts.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the achievement in his monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat, on 25 October 2026, highlighting tribal products and the Vocal for Local movement.
• The packaging features three traditional art forms: Warli, known for geometric depictions of people and daily life; Gond, associated with patterned lines and dots depicting nature and stories; and Chitrakathi, a narrative painting tradition used to tell stories.
• Shabari Naturals markets natural and organic products associated with tribal communities, including wild honey, unpolished rice, pulses, millets, spices and handmade traditional artefacts. The initiative aims to support tribal livelihoods by promoting these products.
SPORTS
Yuki Bhambri and Ryan Seggerman Win Almaty Open 2026 Men’s Doubles Title
• Yuki Bhambri of India and Ryan Seggerman of the United States won the men’s doubles title at the ATP 250 Almaty Open in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 25 October 2026.
• They defeated top seeds Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner of Austria in the final, winning 7–6(3), 6–7(1), [10–2].
• The final lasted 1 hour and 26 minutes. Bhambri and Seggerman won the first-set tiebreak 7–3, lost the second-set tiebreak 1–7 and secured the title by winning the deciding match tiebreak 10–2.
• The victory marked Bhambri’s first ATP Tour title of the 2026 season and his fifth career doubles title on the tour.
• The 34-year-old Bhambri had earlier competed at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan but did not win a medal.
• The ATP Tour is the men’s professional tennis circuit governed by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The ATP 250 category awards 250 ranking points to the singles champion.
• In tennis, a standard-set tiebreak is generally played at 6–6 and requires a two-point winning margin, usually with the first player or team reaching at least seven points winning.
• In doubles, a match tiebreak may replace the deciding set and is generally played to 10 points with a two-point margin. Bhambri previously won the 2009 Australian Open boys’ singles title and reached the top position in the junior world rankings that year.
SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE
COP31 2026: Climate Finance and Funding for Developing Countries
• The 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled to take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.
• The UNFCCC was adopted in 1992, and its Conference of the Parties is the governing body responsible for reviewing implementation and negotiating international climate decisions.
• Türkiye will host COP31, with Australia also involved in the COP31 presidencies.
• At COP29, countries agreed on a climate finance goal of at least US$300 billion annually for developing countries by 2035, alongside a broader ambition to mobilise at least US$1.3 trillion annually by that year.
• The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) called for developed countries to provide multi-year climate finance plans specifying contributions, fund allocation and access, with grants identified as a preferred form of funding.
• Greenpeace urged developed countries to announce ambitious multi-year commitments for the period after 2025 that reflect their fair share of the US$300 billion goal.
• Australian Climate Minister Chris Bowen stated on 25 October 2026 that small island developing states receive just 0.2% of global climate finance, despite their vulnerability to climate impacts.
• COP31 priorities also include increasing electricity’s share of final energy demand to 35%, halving the growth of global waste and reducing building-sector energy intensity by 25%. The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) will engage policymakers and financial institutions on climate investment and a resilient, low-carbon future.
National Urban Conclave 2026 Concludes in Bhubaneswar
• The National Urban Conclave 2026 concluded in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on 25 October 2026, after a two-day programme organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Government of Odisha.
• The theme was “Urban Rising – Rethinking Urban Systems, Solutions and Delivery”, with more than 1,200 participants from governments, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), industry and academia.
• Seven technical sessions covered urban governance, integrated development, affordable housing, resilient planning and the “Right to Walk”. Recommendations included protecting pedestrian rights-of-way and incorporating pedestrian rights into statutory plans.
• The conclave called for greater devolution of powers and finances to ULBs, stronger institutional capacity and accountability, and urban reforms aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
• Initiatives launched included a Used Water Marketplace under AMRUT 2.0 and an online Interactive Municipal Finance Data Hub. Development of 18 Street Food Hubs under PM SVANidhi was also formalised.
• The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) signed an MoU to strengthen technical cooperation on the circular reuse of treated used water.
• Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal highlighted affordable housing, circularity in construction and scientific remediation of legacy waste. NITI Aayog Member Rajiv Gauba emphasised reforms in urban governance, planning and municipal finance.
• The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, introduced Part IXA (Articles 243P–243ZG), which came into force on 1 June 1993. Article 243Q provides for Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations, while the 12th Schedule lists 18 functions that may be entrusted to municipalities. AMRUT stands for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.
