Today's edition covers the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum's opening, the new J&K Chief Secretary appointment, and a revision of the week's trade, defence and heritage items.
26 OCTOBER 2026: TODAY'S EDITION This is a curated revision edition, not a claim that every development occurred today.
TODAY'S FOCUS
- BRICS Parliamentary Forum: the 12th edition opens in New Delhi today, running 26-27 October 2026, under the theme "Fostering Parliaments for People-Centric Development."
- J&K Chief Secretary: Dr Sajjan Singh Yadav, a 1995-batch AGMUT-cadre IAS officer, takes over from 1 November 2026, succeeding Atal Dulloo.
REVISE FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS
- India-New Zealand MoC: CBIC and NZ Customs signed an Electronic Origin Data Exchange MoC on 19 October 2026; the India-NZ FTA took effect the next day, 20 October 2026.
- Land Warfare Doctrine 2026: released by Rajnath Singh on 23 October 2026, the first revision since 2018, focused on AI, drones and multi-domain operations.
- UNESCO Tentative List: three Indian sites (Baratang Karst-Mud Volcanoes, Andaman Subduction Volcanoes, Sirpur in Chhattisgarh) added on 20 October 2026, taking the total to 81.
QUICK CHECK
- What is the theme of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum? Answer: "Fostering Parliaments for People-Centric Development."
- Which cadre does incoming J&K Chief Secretary Sajjan Singh Yadav belong to? Answer: AGMUT cadre (1995 batch), the first AGMUT officer to hold this post in J&K.
- In which state is the Sirpur site recently added to UNESCO's Tentative List? Answer: Chhattisgarh.
SOURCES
See the individual entries added to this collection on 26 October 2026 for source attribution.