Weekly Current Affairs – Top 20 (02–05 Nov 2026)

2 November 2026 – 5 November 2026 · The 20 most exam-worthy current affairs for TNPSC and UPSC from our daily current affairs of 02–05 November 2026 – one crisp pointer each, with a link to the full day's notes, followed by a 10-question self-test.

Top 20 of the week

1. Infrastructure · PortsVizhinjam International Seaport near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, received its first import container on 31 Oct 2026 – it came from Ningbo, China, aboard 'MSC Sabrina III' and was cleared by customs at Vizhinjam itself; the port, with a natural depth of nearly 20 m, has a 40-year PPP with APSEZ.
   2 November 2026 · full news
2. Transport · AviationDigiYatra, the facial-recognition-based paperless air-travel system, began trials for international passengers on 1 Nov 2026 (till December 2026) at 7 airports – Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Chennai and Amritsar – for Indian e-passport holders flying Air India or IndiGo; immigration checks continue as usual, and a wider rollout is planned for 2027.
   2 November 2026 · full news
3. SportsBy finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix on 1 Nov 2026, Mercedes' Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli clinched the 2026 Formula One Drivers' World Championship with four rounds left; aged 20 years 68 days, he is F1's youngest-ever world champion (previous record: Sebastian Vettel, 2010, aged 23) and Italy's first champion since Alberto Ascari (1953).
   2 November 2026 · full news
4. Defence · ExercisesThe 5th edition of 'Tiger Triumph', the India–US tri-service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) amphibious exercise begun in 2019, opened at Visakhapatnam on 2 Nov 2026 as a Tabletop Exercise; the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is taking part for the first time.
   3 November 2026 · full news
5. Science & Technology · IndicesNITI Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri launched the 'India S&T Scoreboard', an interactive platform comparing States' and UTs' research and innovation, on 3 Nov 2026; Tamil Nadu ranked first in research publications in 2024–25 (44,611; UP 29,298; Maharashtra 28,947) and first in patent applications too.
   3 November 2026 · full news
6. Environment · WaterWith the 'Bihar Water Resources Restoration and Silt Management Policy 2026' (approved by the State Cabinet on 15 Sept 2026), Bihar is the first State to adopt a comprehensive silt-management framework; on 3 Nov 2026 Bihar and MoRTH signed an MoU under 'Nadi Sanjeevani' for NHAI to use desilted material in National Highway works (about 1,078 lakh cubic metres in all, 43 projects).
   3 November 2026 · full news
7. Governance · RegulatorsTRAI issued the Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on 2 Nov 2026: operators' complaint centres must work 24×7, with human assistance for at least 16 hours a day; complaints and appeals can also be filed through the operator's mobile app, the appeal window is cut from 30 to 15 days and the Advisory Committee stage is dropped.
   3 November 2026 · full news
8. Internal SecurityCRPF Director General G.P. Singh announced on 2 Nov 2026 that the force – India's largest Central Armed Police Force (about 3.25 lakh personnel) – had gone 12 straight months without an operational fatality (the last was on 30 Oct 2025), the first such stretch in 47 years (the previous one ended in January 1979); PM Modi hailed it on 3 Nov as 'A ZERO that speaks volumes'.
   3 November 2026 · full news
9. Education · RankingsIn the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027 (released 3 Nov 2026; 1,722 universities), India has 325 institutions, but 71% of returning Indian universities slipped; IIT Delhi (66th) remains India's best, followed by IISc (79) and IIT Bombay (83), while the University of Hong Kong is Asia's No. 1.
   4 November 2026 · full news
10. Defence · Air DefenceThe fifth and final S-400 'Triumf' air-defence squadron under India's 5 Oct 2018 deal with Russia (about $5.43 billion for 5 squadrons; called 'Sudarshan Chakra' in India) is now expected in January–February 2027 instead of November 2026, reports of 2–3 Nov 2026 said; the first squadron arrived in December 2021 and the fourth in May–June 2026, and the DAC cleared five more squadrons in March 2026.
    4 November 2026 · full news
11. Agriculture · FisheriesSoreng district of Sikkim is India's first notified Organic Fisheries Cluster under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY); on a visit to Sikkim on 2 Nov 2026, Union Fisheries Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh) launched the SOP for organic certification of fisheries for the North-Eastern region and inaugurated PMMSY projects worth ₹3.75 crore.
    4 November 2026 · full news
12. Tamil Nadu · EnvironmentTamil Nadu reconstituted its State Board for Wildlife (G.O.(D) No. 198, 28.10.2026, under Section 6(1) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972): CM C. Joseph Vijay chairs it, the Forest Minister is Vice-Chairperson and the PCCF & Chief Wildlife Warden is Member-Secretary; its 30 members include 3 MLAs.
    4 November 2026 · full news
13. Tamil Nadu · SericultureCM C. Joseph Vijay on 4 Nov 2026 opened, by video link, the ₹19.20-crore Integrated Government Silk Cocoon Market Complex (about 80,000 sq ft) at Sokkathur, Dharmapuri district, where cocoons will be sold by e-auction; the market, about 40 years old, handles an average of 600 tonnes of cocoons a year from farmers of 15–20 districts.
    4 November 2026 · full news
14. Environment · OzoneNOAA and NASA reported on 4 Nov 2026 that the 2026 Antarctic ozone hole was the 7th largest in 48 years of records – average about 25 million sq km (7 Sep – 13 Oct), peak 27.1 million sq km on 18 Sep – owing to an unusually strong polar vortex; full recovery is expected by the 2070s.
    5 November 2026 · full news
15. International RelationsThe Bahamas handed over its instrument of ratification of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework Agreement in New Delhi on 3 Nov 2026, on the sidelines of the 9th ISA Assembly, and became the ISA's 116th member; the ISA was launched at COP21 in Paris on 30 Nov 2015 and is headquartered in Gurugram (Haryana).
    5 November 2026 · full news
16. Science · EarthquakesUnion Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated India's 183rd seismological observatory at Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir, on 2 Nov 2026 – the UT's fourth, after Jammu, Srinagar and Udhampur; it will send real-time data to the National Center for Seismology (NCS), New Delhi, whose network has grown from about 84 stations in 2014 to 183.
    5 November 2026 · full news
17. International Relations · FisheriesIndia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives launched the 'Bay of Bengal Network of Ocean Researchers for Fisheries' (BOB-NOR) at ICAR–CMFRI, Kochi (reported 5 Nov 2026), to study how sea temperature, monsoon changes, salinity and ocean currents affect fish movement, breeding and numbers, by combining satellite data, sea surveys and climate and fisheries data.
    5 November 2026 · full news
18. Tamil Nadu · EnvironmentOn 3 Nov 2026 a Madras High Court Bench ordered the immediate closure of all 87 resorts in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve area (Erode district) that had no DTCP planning/building approval or HACA clearance, and steps to demolish them as per law; the reserve, a tiger reserve since 2013, covers 1,408.4 sq km.
    5 November 2026 · full news
19. Geography · RailwaysReports on 5 Nov 2026 said the Railway Ministry has prepared the DPR for the 489-km broad-gauge Bilaspur–Manali–Leh line, with a station planned beneath Ladakh's Tanglang (Taglang) La at about 5,256 m – higher than China's Tanggula station (about 5,068 m), now the world's highest; the cost is about ₹1.31 lakh crore and construction is not yet sanctioned.
    5 November 2026 · full news
20. SportsCristiano Ronaldo (41) announced his retirement from international football on 5 Nov 2026 – 146 goals in 234 matches for Portugal, the men's world records for most international goals and appearances; he captained Portugal to the Euro 2016 title and will continue to play club football for Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia).
    5 November 2026 · full news

Quiz – 10 questions