October 2025

On 3 October 2025, The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has announced significant reforms to make its recruitment exams more transparent, secure, and candidate-friendly.

Transparency: Candidates can now view their question papers, responses, and correct answers. Selected past papers will also be published as official sample sets. Restrictions apply only during ongoing multi-shift exams.

Candidate Welfare: Fee for challenging questions has been reduced from ₹100 to ₹50. A grievance redressal portal has been launched alongside a toll-free helpline.

Fairness in Evaluation: Introduction of equi-percentile normalization to remove variations across exam shifts.

Security Measures: Aadhaar-based authentication to prevent impersonation, digital vault for secure paper transmission, and IT agency support to prevent hacking.

On 1 October 2025, the Union Cabinet approved several major decisions:

1. Dearness Allowance (DA) & Dearness Relief (DR): Increased by 3%, effective from 1 July 2025, benefiting about 49.2 lakh employees and 68.7 lakh pensioners.
2. New Kendriya Vidyalayas: Approval for 57 new schools with an outlay of ₹5,862 crore, creating 4,600 teaching posts and benefiting 87,000 students. This includes schools in aspirational districts, LWE areas, and the Northeast.
3. Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses: A six-year mission (2025–31) with an outlay of ₹11,440 crore to achieve 350 lakh tonnes production by 2030-31, benefiting 2 crore farmers through improved seeds, procurement, and infrastructure.
4. MSP Hike for Rabi Crops (2026-27): Highest increase for safflower (+₹600/qtl) followed by lentil (+₹300/qtl) to ensure remunerative prices.
5. Infrastructure Project in Assam: Widening and upgrading of the Kalibor–Numaligarh section of NH-715 (85 km) to four lanes at a cost of ₹6,957 crore under EPC mode.

On 1 October 2025, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved an increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi crops for the Marketing Season 2026–27 to ensure remunerative prices for farmers.

• The highest MSP hike was for safflower (+₹600/qtl), followed by lentil/masur (+₹300/qtl).
• Increases for other crops: rapeseed & mustard (+₹250/qtl), gram (+₹225/qtl), barley (+₹170/qtl), and wheat (+₹160/qtl).
• Final MSPs (per quintal) are: wheat ₹2,585, barley ₹2,150, gram ₹5,875, lentil ₹7,000, rapeseed & mustard ₹6,200, and safflower ₹6,540.
• The increase aligns with the Union Budget 2018-19 promise to set MSPs at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.
• Margins over cost of production: wheat (109%), rapeseed & mustard (93%), lentil (89%), gram (59%), barley (58%), and safflower (50%).