Current Affairs April 2026 for UPSC: Assembly Elections Schedule, RBI Repo Hold, Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool, Gaganyaan IADT-02, Chabahar and COP33

April 2026 at a Glance

🎯 April 2026: 1 to 30 April. April was the polling month for five assemblies, and it carried a policy hold by the RBI, a new maritime insurance pool, a parachute test for Gaganyaan, a ceasefire in the Gulf, the end of the Chabahar waiver and India's withdrawal as host of COP33. The results of the elections are in the May note. Facts marked 'official' come from ISRO or a Cabinet release; the rest are named secondary sources.

April at a glance

Polity: the 2026 Assembly Elections, Phase by Phase

The Election Commission announced the schedule on 15 March 2026; polling happened in April and the votes were counted together on 4 May.

Polity: the 2026 assembly elections

• In all, about 17.4 crore voters were eligible across 824 constituencies, and the Model Code of Conduct took effect on the day of the announcement.

• Static: the Election Commission acts under Article 324; the Model Code of Conduct is a set of norms agreed by the parties, not a statute; Puducherry's legislature is created under the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, and Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir are the UTs with legislatures.

• The results (4 May) are covered in the May 2026 note; do not carry results into April's notes.

Economy: the RBI's April Hold and the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool

Two economic items need exact figures: the RBI's April policy and the Cabinet's maritime insurance pool.

Economy: RBI policy and the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool

• RBI policy (8 April; secondary). At its 60th meeting the MPC unanimously kept the repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance; the standing deposit facility rate stayed at 5.00 per cent and the marginal standing facility rate at 5.50 per cent. CPI inflation for 2026-27 was projected at 4.6 per cent on the new CPI series. The risks named were the West Asia conflict, Hormuz supply disruption and a possible El Niño. Static: the SDF rate is repo minus 25 basis points and the MSF rate is repo plus 25 basis points; the SDF is the floor and the MSF the ceiling of the liquidity corridor.

• Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (Cabinet, 18 April). The Cabinet approved a pool with a sovereign guarantee of Rs 12,980 crore so that marine insurance stays available to Indian shipping despite geopolitical risk. India depends heavily on the International Group of P&I Clubs for third-party liability cover. The pool covers hull and machinery, cargo, P&I and war risks for Indian-flagged vessels and for ships carrying cargo to or from Indian ports. One source reports an initial ten-year guarantee with a five-year extension. Static: hull and machinery insures the ship, cargo insurance the goods, and P&I (protection and indemnity) the owner's liability to third parties such as pollution or crew claims.

International Relations: Ceasefire, Chabahar and COP33

April's international items were a Gulf ceasefire, a port waiver and a climate-diplomacy retreat.

International relations and environment

• US-Iran ceasefire (7-10 April; secondary). After about 40 days of fighting the US and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire, less than two hours before President Trump's deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir mediated, and talks were set for Islamabad on 10 April. Traffic in the strait began to ease from 8 April. The talks produced no settlement and later developments are reported inconsistently, so the July and later situation is left to the later notes. Static: Pakistan is the host of the talks; India was not a party.

• Chabahar (26 April; secondary). The conditional US sanctions waiver, valid for six months from 29 October 2025, ended on 26 April 2026. The Government told the Lok Sabha later that it was engaged with stakeholders on the implications and that India had fulfilled its USD 120 million financial commitment. Static: India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) operates the Shahid Beheshti terminal in the Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran under a ten-year contract signed in May 2024; Chabahar is India's gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia and part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, bypassing Pakistan.

• COP33 (2 April; reported 8-9 April). India withdrew its offer to host the 33rd Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in 2028, telling other countries on 2 April, after a review of its commitments, and a ministry spokesperson confirmed the decision had been communicated to the UNFCCC. Prime Minister Modi had made the offer at COP28 in 2023. The host rotates among UN regional groups, so the Asia-Pacific group must nominate a replacement. Static: the Global Stocktake is due in 2028, the second after 2023.

Science: Gaganyaan's Second Air Drop Test

The month's science item comes from ISRO's own release.

Science: Gaganyaan's second air-drop test (official)

• On 10 April 2026 ISRO conducted the second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for Gaganyaan at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. A simulated crew module of roughly 5.7 tonnes, matching the crew module of the G1 uncrewed mission, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to about 3 km and released over the sea; ten parachutes of four types opened in sequence; the Indian Navy recovered the module. The test validated the parachute-based deceleration systems. The first test, IADT-01, was on 24 August 2025 with a 4.8-tonne module.

• Static: Gaganyaan is India's crewed spaceflight programme; Vyommitra is the half-humanoid robot for the uncrewed flight; the parachute system slows the crew module after re-entry for a splashdown near the Indian coast.

Further Reading

• PIB press releases, ministry websites and annual reports, the Gazette of India, MEA and UN documents and the official sources named in each note — the primary sources behind every fact above.

How UPSC Could Ask This Next

Here is how UPSC could turn April into questions.

How UPSC could ask this next

• Elections: which body conducts them (Article 324), the number of constituencies and phases, the Model Code of Conduct and its status, which UTs have legislatures.

• Monetary policy: the corridor: SDF, repo and MSF; who is on the MPC; what a neutral stance means.

• Maritime insurance: what P&I covers, why a sovereign guarantee is needed and why India depends on foreign clubs.

• Space: what the air-drop test tests; the aircraft used; the role of the Navy; the planned crew size.

• IR: Chabahar's location and its link to INSTC; who mediated the US-Iran ceasefire; what COP33 and the Global Stocktake are.

Test Yourself: Practice Questions

Sixteen practice questions on April 2026, each tied to a verified fact.

Practice Questions

Q1. The Election Commission announced the schedule for the 2026 assembly elections on

• (a) 1 February 2026

• (b) 4 May 2026

• (c) 15 March 2026

• (d) 1 April 2026

Q2. Which of the following voted on 9 April 2026 in a single phase?

• (a) Tamil Nadu and West Bengal

• (b) Assam, Kerala and Puducherry

• (c) West Bengal only

• (d) Assam and Tamil Nadu

Q3. West Bengal voted in two phases in April 2026, on

• (a) 9 April and 23 April

• (b) 23 April and 4 May

• (c) 9 April and 29 April

• (d) 23 April and 29 April

Q4. The Election Commission of India derives its power of superintendence of elections from

• (a) Article 243K

• (b) Article 326

• (c) Article 324

• (d) Article 368

Q5. At its April 2026 meeting the Monetary Policy Committee

• (a) changed the stance to accommodative

• (b) cut the repo rate to 5.00 per cent

• (c) raised the repo rate to 5.50 per cent

• (d) kept the repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance

Q6. After the April 2026 policy, the marginal standing facility rate is

• (a) 5.50 per cent

• (b) 5.25 per cent

• (c) 6.00 per cent

• (d) 5.00 per cent

Q7. The standing deposit facility rate after the April 2026 policy is

• (a) 4.75 per cent

• (b) 5.25 per cent

• (c) 5.00 per cent

• (d) 5.50 per cent

Q8. The Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool approved by the Cabinet in April 2026 carries a sovereign guarantee of

• (a) Rs 12,980 crore

• (b) Rs 28,840 crore

• (c) Rs 1,800 crore

• (d) Rs 83,977 crore

Q9. Indian shipping depends heavily on foreign insurers for third-party liability cover, specifically on the

• (a) International Maritime Organization

• (b) Baltic Exchange

• (c) Lloyd's Register of Shipping

• (d) International Group of P&I Clubs

Q10. The second Integrated Air Drop Test for Gaganyaan on 10 April 2026 used which aircraft to lift the simulated crew module?

• (a) ISRO's Dornier 228

• (b) Indian Navy MiG-29K

• (c) IAF C-17 Globemaster

• (d) IAF Chinook helicopter

Q11. The simulated crew module in IADT-02 was brought down with

• (a) a gliding wing

• (b) a single main parachute

• (c) retro rockets only

• (d) ten parachutes of four types

Q12. Which country's leaders mediated the April 2026 US-Iran ceasefire and hosted talks on 10 April?

• (a) Egypt

• (b) Qatar

• (c) Oman

• (d) Pakistan

Q13. The US sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port project ended on

• (a) 26 April 2026

• (b) 1 January 2026

• (c) 29 October 2025

• (d) 30 June 2026

Q14. India Ports Global Limited operates which terminal at Chabahar?

• (a) Shahid Beheshti

• (b) Bandar Abbas

• (c) Shahid Kalantari

• (d) Makran

Q15. In April 2026 India withdrew its offer to host the

• (a) Commonwealth Games 2030

• (b) Ramsar COP15

• (c) 33rd UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP33) in 2028

• (d) G20 Summit 2027

Q16. The Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement, whose second round is due in 2028, is conducted every

• (a) two years

• (b) five years

• (c) three years

• (d) ten years

Mains Practice Questions

Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.

• Discuss the role of the Election Commission in conducting simultaneous multi-state elections and the legal status of the Model Code of Conduct.

• Examine why India needed a sovereign-backed maritime insurance pool and assess its limits.

• Assess the implications of the end of the US waiver for India's Chabahar project and the INSTC.

• Analyse the reasons and consequences of India's withdrawal as host of COP33.