LEGAL NEWS
Supreme Court Reserves Order on Medicine Prices and Trade Margins
• On 27 October 2026, the Supreme Court of India reserved its order on petitions challenging medicine prices and trade margins. The Bench comprised Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.
• The Court questioned the disparity between the Price to Retailer (PTR) and Maximum Retail Price (MRP), citing a cancer injection purchased at ₹11,000 but sold by a hospital for ₹1.3 lakh, and a drip line bought for ₹15 but sold for ₹250.
• The Centre informed the Court that it had capped trade margins at 30% of MRP for 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs. The measure was approved on 8 October 2026.
• The Department of Pharmaceuticals estimated that the measure could reduce retail prices by up to 70% and save patients approximately ₹2,500 crore annually.
• The Court questioned why trade-margin rationalisation was limited to anti-cancer drugs and whether a uniform trade-margin cap of approximately 16% over PTR could be applied to all non-patented medicines. It also observed that around 90% of medicines fall outside direct price controls.
• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) regulates and monitors medicine prices. The Court criticised its functioning, describing it as appearing “totally defunct” or “lagging behind”.
• As of 31 March 2026, outstanding overcharging claims against pharmaceutical companies stood at ₹8,447.4 crore, of which more than ₹5,800 crore was involved in litigation.
• The Essential Commodities Act, 1955, provides the legal basis for the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO). The DPCO 2013 regulates prices of scheduled formulations listed in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), while non-scheduled medicines are subject to price monitoring and limits on annual price increases. The NPPA was established in 1997 under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
NATIONAL NEWS
Vigilance Awareness Week 2026
• Vigilance Awareness Week 2026 is being observed across India from 26 October to 1 November 2026 under the leadership of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
• The theme for 2026 is “Probity for Prosperity” (सत्यनिष्ठा से समृद्धि), promoting integrity, transparency and accountability in public life.
• The observance began at 11:00 a.m. on 26 October 2026, when public servants took the Integrity Pledge in government departments, public sector enterprises and banks.
• The Central Vigilance Commission was established in 1964 through an executive resolution and became a statutory body under the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.
• The CVC consists of a Central Vigilance Commissioner and up to two Vigilance Commissioners. They are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
• A three-month preventive vigilance campaign is being conducted from 17 August to 16 November 2026, focusing on pending complaints and cases, capacity building, digital initiatives and contract management.
• Activities include workshops, debates, quizzes, sensitisation programmes, digital awareness campaigns and Awareness Gram Sabhas in rural and semi-urban areas. Employees and their families are also encouraged to take the e-Integrity Pledge through the CVC website.
• Participating organisations must submit reports on their observance to the CVC by 30 November 2026. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings on 26 October 2026.
Union Cabinet Approves 3% Increase in DA and DR for Employees and Pensioners
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a 3 percentage-point increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners on 28 October 2026.
• The revised rates are effective retrospectively from 1 July 2026, increasing DA and DR from 60% to 63% of basic pay or pension.
• Dearness Allowance (DA) is paid to serving government employees, while Dearness Relief (DR) is provided to pensioners to compensate for the impact of rising prices.
• The revision follows the accepted calculation formula associated with the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.
• The decision is expected to benefit approximately 48.54 lakh Central Government employees and 68.71 lakh pensioners, covering more than 1.17 crore people.
• The combined annual financial impact on the Union Government exchequer is estimated at ₹10,016.10 crore.
• Eligible employees and pensioners will receive arrears for July, August, September and October 2026 along with their October salary or pension. Separate revisions effective from 1 July 2026 were also approved for employees governed by the 5th and 6th Central Pay Commissions.
• The announcement was made by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) tracks changes in retail prices faced by industrial-worker households and is used in inflation and DA-related calculations.
Janjatiya Gaurav Pakhwada 2026 to Be Observed from 1–15 November
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will observe Janjatiya Gaurav Pakhwada nationwide from 1 to 15 November 2026, culminating in Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas on 15 November.
• Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas marks the birth anniversary of tribal freedom fighter Dharti Aaba Bhagwan Birsa Munda. The Government of India designated 15 November as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in 2021.
• The fortnight aims to promote awareness of government schemes and entitlements and facilitate the delivery of benefits to tribal families.
• More than 300 projects are planned for tribal communities, including 228 inaugurations and 74 foundation-stone layings. Over 160 state-level activities are also scheduled.
• On 12 November, approximately 200 students from Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) are scheduled to interact with the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The National Tribal Literary Festival will be held in New Delhi on 12–13 November.
• The Rani Durgavati Adivasi Mahila Sammelan will be organised on 14 November, bringing together 500 tribal women entrepreneurs from 30 States and Union Territories to develop market linkages.
• Two national digital platforms are scheduled for launch: the Jan-HIT Portal for tribal health data and the National FRA Digital Platform to support forest-rights claims.
• Birsa Munda led the Ulgulan (Great Tumult), a movement against British rule and exploitation of tribal communities in the late nineteenth century. The Forest Rights Act, 2006, recognises individual and community forest rights; Article 342 deals with the specification of Scheduled Tribes by Presidential order, while the Fifth Schedule concerns the administration of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in specified States.
Tobacco-Free Youth Campaign (TFYC 4.0) Launched Nationwide
• India launched the fourth edition of the Tobacco-Free Youth Campaign (TFYC 4.0) on 28 October 2026, for a period of 60 days, ending on 26 December 2026.
• Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav launched the campaign in New Delhi at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
• The campaign is organised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with MY Bharat and the Ministry of Education.
• Universities and colleges are a major focus of this edition, with students encouraged to participate in tobacco-prevention activities and educational institutions urged to strengthen tobacco-free campus practices.
• TFYC 4.0 follows a six-pronged strategy: public awareness, tobacco-free educational institutions, tobacco-free villages, enforcement of tobacco-control laws, social media engagement, and participation by universities and colleges.
• The campaign promotes enforcement of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, which regulates tobacco advertising and trade, prohibits smoking in specified public places and restricts tobacco sales to persons below 18 years and within 100 yards of educational institutions.
• The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA), 2019, prohibits the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of electronic cigarettes in India.
• Previous campaign editions resulted in more than 5.8 lakh educational institutions and over 73,000 villages being declared tobacco-free. Nagaland also launched its state-level TFYC 4.0 on 28 October 2026, with activities across its districts.
AWARDS
Harry Kane Wins Men’s Ballon d’Or 2026
• Harry Kane won the Men’s Ballon d’Or on 26 October 2026 at the 70th ceremony, held at the London Palladium, becoming the first English winner since Michael Owen in 2001.
• The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football. It was first awarded in 1956, with England’s Stanley Matthews as the inaugural recipient.
• Eligibility expanded in 1995 to players of any nationality playing for European clubs and became worldwide in 2007. Separate men’s and women’s awards have been presented since 2018.
• Kane became the fifth English player to win the men’s award. Previous English winners were Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) and Michael Owen (2001).
• Aged 33, Kane scored 73 goals in 65 appearances for club and country during the 2025–26 season. Playing for Bayern Munich, he scored 36 Bundesliga goals and 14 goals in 13 UEFA Champions League appearances.
• Bayern Munich won both the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal during the 2025–26 season. Kane finished ahead of runner-up Kylian Mbappé and third-placed Lamine Yamal in the men’s Ballon d’Or voting.
• Kane also received the Men’s Striker of the Year award. According to the provided article, Lionel Messi holds the record for most goals in a single season, with 82 in 2011–12.
• Spain’s Alexia Putellas won her third Women’s Ballon d’Or in 2026, having previously won in 2021 and 2022. She was recognised after helping Barcelona win multiple trophies in the preceding season.
The Earthshot Prize 2026 to Be Held in Mumbai
• The Earthshot Prize 2026 will be held in Mumbai on 16–17 November 2026, marking the first time India will host the event. The sixth annual Awards Night is scheduled for 17 November.
• The host city was announced during the inaugural Mumbai Climate Week on 17 February 2026.
• The Earthshot Prize was launched in 2020 by Prince William to support innovative solutions to environmental challenges and accelerate environmental restoration.
• The prize has five categories: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate.
• Five finalists are selected for each annual prize cycle, with each category winner receiving £1 million to develop and expand their environmental solution.
• India has had seven finalists, including four winners, making it the country with the highest number of Earthshot Prize winners according to the supplied report.
• The 2026 programme includes a Summit on 16 November, followed by the Awards Night on 17 November. The Serum Institute of India is the principal sponsor of the Summit, which will bring together environmental and business leaders, investors and philanthropists.
• The Awards Night is scheduled to feature British pop group Take That, singer Shreya Ghoshal and composer Shashwat Sachdev, with filmmaker Karan Johar as host. Prime Video will stream the ceremony globally across more than 240 countries and territories in over 40 languages.
SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE
54th PRAGATI Meeting Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 54th PRAGATI meeting at Seva Teerth on 28 October 2026.
• The meeting reviewed infrastructure projects worth more than ₹16,000 crore across 31 States and Union Territories.
• PRAGATI stands for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. It is a technology-based platform launched in 2015 to review government programmes, infrastructure projects and public grievances.
• The platform connects the Prime Minister, Union Government Secretaries and State Chief Secretaries through video conferencing to improve coordination and resolve implementation bottlenecks.
• The Prime Minister directed Chief Secretaries to conduct monthly reviews with District Magistrates to identify implementation gaps and ensure timely delivery of welfare benefits.
• Railway station redevelopment was a major focus, with stations being developed as multimodal transport hubs connecting different modes of transportation.
• The meeting reviewed the progress of Bulk Drug Parks in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Bulk drugs, also known as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), are the principal components responsible for the therapeutic effect of medicines.
• The meeting also discussed PM Ekta Malls, aimed at connecting local artisans and businesses with tourism and business networks. The Prime Minister emphasised assessing government schemes through citizen outcomes rather than merely their budgetary expenditure.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INS Sahyadri Participates in India–Republic of Korea Naval Exercise 2026
• INS Sahyadri arrived at Busan Naval Harbour, Republic of Korea, on 26 October 2026 to participate in the second edition of the India–Republic of Korea Navy (IN-RoKN) Bilateral Exercise.
• The exercise involves the Indian Navy and the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN), with activities divided into harbour and sea phases.
• INS Sahyadri is a Shivalik-class guided missile stealth frigate of the Indian Navy, commissioned in 2012.
• The Shivalik-class multi-role frigates are built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai. Frigates are surface combatants used for maritime operations, surveillance and protection of naval forces.
• The harbour phase includes professional interactions, cross-deck visits, cross-training activities and sporting events between personnel of the two navies.
• The Commanding Officer of INS Sahyadri is scheduled to meet senior officials of the Republic of Korea Navy during the harbour phase at Busan.
• The sea phase will involve coordinated maritime activities between INS Sahyadri and ROKS Munmu the Great, including coordinated ship movements and other naval activities.
• The exercise aims to strengthen maritime cooperation and enhance interoperability in the Indo-Pacific region. Its first edition was held in Busan in October 2025, also involving INS Sahyadri.
