Lakshadweep Becomes 100% Literate Union Territory

Context: Lakshadweep was recently declared a fully literate Union Territory under the ULLAS – Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram.

About ULLAS and Full Literacy

• Full-literacy criterion: The Ministry of Education considers a State/UT with a literacy rate of 95% or above to be fully literate. 

• Literacy includes the ability to read, write and compute with comprehension, along with critical life skills such as digital and financial literacy.

• States/UTs achieving the status before Lakshadweep: According to the Ministry of Education, ten States/UTs declared themselves fully literate between 2024 and 2026: Ladakh, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. 

• Ladakh was the first administrative unit to achieve this status in June 2024.

• Nature and duration: Centrally Sponsored Scheme aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, implemented during FY 2022–23 to FY 2026–27.

• Target group: Non-literate persons aged 15 years and above who missed formal schooling. The scheme targets five crore learners over five years, with a total outlay of ₹1,037.90 crore.

• The Scheme has five components:

1. Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.

2. Critical Life Skills, including financial, digital and legal literacy, healthcare awareness and childcare.

3. Basic Education.

4. Vocational Skills.

5. Continuing Education.

• Implementation: ULLAS promotes volunteerism and community participation through a hybrid learning model. Its mobile app provides teaching-learning materials in 27 languages, and learners are assessed through the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT).

Government Constitutes Committee to Examine Issues Relating to Sugarcane Farmers and the Sugar Sector

Context: The Government has constituted a committee chaired by Prof. Ramesh Chand, former Member of NITI Aayog, to examine issues raised by sugarcane farmers and recommend measures to address their concerns.

About the Committee

• Terms of Reference:

• Examine demands for higher remunerative returns to sugarcane farmers, considering cultivation costs and other relevant factors.
• Review the ex-mill Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar in light of production costs, market realisations and the financial viability of sugar mills.
• Examine sugar-recovery testing and reporting mechanisms to ensure transparent verification.
• Review sugarcane weighment practices at mills, including calibration, inspection and verification mechanisms.
• Assess deductions from mechanically harvested sugarcane, the actual losses, if any, and their financial impact on the price payable to farmers.

Sugarcane Pricing Mechanism in India

• Legal framework: Sugarcane pricing is governed by the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. 

• The Central Government fixes the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), after consultations with State Governments and other stakeholders.

• Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP): It is the minimum price sugar mills are legally required to pay sugarcane farmers. It is linked to a basic sugar-recovery rate, with a premium for higher recovery and a corresponding reduction for lower recovery, subject to the applicable safeguards.

• Factors considered for FRP include sugarcane production costs, sugar-recovery rates, the availability of sugar to consumers at a fair price and returns from alternative crops.

• State-Advised Price (SAP): Certain States, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, announce their own SAP, generally higher than the central FRP.

• Ex-mill Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of sugar: It is the minimum price at which sugar mills can sell sugar, and is distinct from FRP, which governs payments to sugarcane farmers. The minimum selling price of sugar is regulated under the Sugar (Control) Order, 2025.

• Current FRP: For the 2026–27 sugar season (October–September), the Central Government has fixed FRP at ₹365 per quintal for a basic sugar-recovery rate of 10.25%.

South Korea Tests Indigenous Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Context: South Korea recently test-launched its first indigenously developed Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV).

About Hypersonic Weapons

• Definition: Hypersonic weapons travel at speeds of Mach 5 or higher—at least five times the speed of sound.

• Types: Hypersonic weapons are broadly classified into two types:

• Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV): A rocket booster accelerates the vehicle to the upper atmosphere. After separating from the booster, it glides at hypersonic speeds and can manoeuvre towards its target.
• Hypersonic Cruise Missile (HCM): Uses an air-breathing engine, such as a scramjet, to sustain powered hypersonic flight within the atmosphere.

• Strategic significance: Their high speed, lower flight paths in some phases and manoeuvrability can reduce warning time and complicate detection and interception by missile-defence systems. However, interception is difficult, not impossible.

India’s Hypersonic Weapons Programme

• Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV): DRDO successfully demonstrated scramjet-based hypersonic technology in September 2020, with the vehicle sustaining combustion at approximately Mach 6 for over 20 seconds.

• Long-range hypersonic missile: In November 2024, DRDO successfully conducted the first flight trial of India’s indigenously developed long-range hypersonic missile. It is designed to carry various payloads over ranges exceeding 1,500 km for the Armed Forces.

• Scramjet propulsion breakthrough: In May 2026, DRDO’s Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) successfully conducted a ground test of its actively cooled, full-scale scramjet combustor for over 1,200 seconds, advancing work on India’s hypersonic cruise-missile programme.

21st Meeting of Maritime State Development Council

Context: The 21st meeting of the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) concluded in Mumbai on 13 October 2026, chaired by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. It was the Council’s first meeting after it received statutory status under the Indian Ports Act, 2025.

Key Outcomes of the Meeting

• One Nation One Port Process (ONOP): Standardised documentation, port-process re-engineering and inter-ministerial reforms are to be implemented across all ports by March 2027.

• Digitalisation and transparency: All ports must integrate with the Maritime Single Window (MSW–Sagar Setu) by March 2027, and port tariffs must be published electronically.

• Port-led industrialisation and connectivity: States will develop port-linked industrial clusters with plug-and-play infrastructure and faster approvals. The Council also called for Port Master Plans for non-major ports and improved multimodal connectivity.

• Shipbuilding support: Two credit-risk insurance products were launched under the Shipbuilding Development Scheme: SbPCP, developed by ECGC Ltd. for export projects, and BCSPS, developed by The New India Assurance Company Ltd. (NIACL) for domestic projects.

• Long-term maritime planning: The Council adopted targets under Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, covering more than 500 initiatives across ports, shipping, inland waterways, shipbuilding and green shipping.

About the Maritime State Development Council

• Origin: Constituted in 1997 to promote coordinated development of India’s maritime sector.

• Statutory status: Recognised as a statutory consultative body under the Indian Ports Act, 2025, which replaced the Indian Ports Act, 1908.

• Chairperson: Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

• Purpose: To facilitate Centre–State coordination and integrated maritime development, including port infrastructure, connectivity, efficiency and transparency.

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

Context: The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) is observed annually on 13 October.

About the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

• Origin: Established in 1989 following a call by the United Nations General Assembly to promote a global culture of risk awareness and disaster reduction.

• 2026 theme – “Resilience Starts at Home”: Highlights how safe housing, risk-informed land-use planning, resilient construction and household preparedness can reduce disaster risks.

• Global framework: The observance promotes disaster risk reduction in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), the international framework for preventing and reducing disaster risks and strengthening resilience.

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030)

• Adoption: Adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, in March 2015.

• Objective: To prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks through integrated measures that reduce exposure and vulnerability, strengthen preparedness and enhance resilience.

• Four priorities for action:

1. Understanding disaster risk.

2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk.

3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience.

4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

• India’s initiative – Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI): Launched by India at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019, CDRI is a global partnership headquartered in New Delhi that promotes the resilience of infrastructure systems against climate and disaster risks.