Get your daily dose of Current Affairs 28 October 2026. Key updates on the Lumina simulation, Earth Shot Prize in Mumbai, India-Mexico PTA, and Cyclone Arnab.
India and Mexico formally launched negotiations for a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) after signing the Terms of Reference (ToR) in Mexico City on 26 October 2026. The signing took place during the visit of India’s Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. The proposed agreement follows an understanding reached by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the G7 Summit in Canada in June 2025.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued Circular No. 257/03/2026-GST on 26 October 2026. It sets out timelines and procedures for GST registration, including deemed approval when a proper officer takes no action within the applicable period under the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has reduced 47,957 compliance requirements across Central Ministries and States and Union Territories as of 27 October 2026. The measures include digitisation, simplification, decriminalisation and elimination of requirements.
Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan announced government approval on October 26, 2026, for the Kerala Civil Aviation Development Cooperative Society to launch flight services. The proposed airline, tentatively named Co-Keralam, is planned as India’s first airline in the cooperative sector. C.N. Vijayakrishnan, Chairman of MVR Cancer Centre and Research Institute, is spearheading the project.
Tata Communications announced an investment of nearly $450 million, or about ₹4,350 crore, on 26 October 2026 to build high-speed network infrastructure for India’s artificial intelligence (AI) data-centre corridors. The project will add approximately 10,000 kilometres of long-haul fibre cables across the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Arvind Limited’s textile manufacturing plant at Khochwan, Mirzamurad, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on 25 October 2026. The facility, built at an approximate cost of ₹150 crore, covers about 7–8 acres and is the company’s first major manufacturing plant in the Purvanchal region.
Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SMFCL) is India’s first dedicated maritime non-banking financial company (NBFC). It aims to make cumulative disbursements of ₹60,205 crore by the end of the 2030–31 financial year. Its target depends on equity support and compliance with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms, including applicable debt-to-equity requirements.
On 22 October 2026, the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) launched NDEX and FINNDEX, two rule-based equity indices, in New Delhi. The launch extended NCDEX’s activities beyond its traditional focus on agricultural commodities into equity and equity derivatives markets.
Oil India Limited (OIL) announced a natural gas discovery on 23 October 2026 in the shallow offshore block KG-DSF/GSKW/2018 in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The discovery was made in the previously unappraised Matsyapuri formation through the Godavari-1 well, an appraisal well in the block operated solely by OIL.
On 21 October 2026, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced state-level outreach initiatives to help farmers, workers, women, youth, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and small businesses use export opportunities under India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The Department of Commerce is organising the initiatives with state governments. India has nine FTAs covering 38 countries.
The Tuticorin International Container Terminal (TICT) at VO Chidambaranar Port (VOC Port), Tamil Nadu, was designated a green terminal on 22 October 2026 after all its operational equipment was electrified. The Union Shipping Secretary made the designation during a review of port projects. VOC Port has an annual cargo-handling capacity of 82 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
