103 verified updates with instant GK Bytes — free PDF download for Bank, SSC, Railway, Punjab Police, RSSB LDC & state exams.
The January 2026 current affairs capsule collects the 103most exam-relevant news items of the month — polity, economy, international relations, government schemes, science & technology, defence, sports and awards — each summarised with a GK Byte that ties it to static general knowledge. Read it on this page or grab the free January 2026 current affairs PDF above for offline, exam-focused revision.
UGC notified the 'Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions' (Anti-Discrimination) Regulations, mandating Equity Committees and Equal Opportunity Centres. Amid campus protests, the Supreme Court stayed implementation around 29 January.
UGC circulated a uniform mental-health policy for higher education institutions (aligned with NEP 2020), requiring support centres, a 1:500 faculty-mentor ratio and linkage with the Tele-MANAS helpline.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports notified the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026 under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, covering eligibility, disqualification and 'Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit' appointments.
The Ministry of Agriculture released the draft Bill for comments; it proposes to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968 and create a Central Pesticides Board and a Registration Committee.
The Ministry of Coal released draft amendments removing area limits on reconnaissance, exploration and mining licences, and codifying central power to auction exploration licences.
PM Modi marked a decade of the Startup India initiative (launched 16 Jan 2016) at Bharat Mandapam; DPIIT-recognised startups grew to over 2.09 lakh by December 2025, creating over 21 lakh jobs.
For the first time, two EU leaders were joint chief guests at the 77th Republic Day - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa - who visited India (25-27 January) to co-chair the 16th India-EU Summit.
The parade centred on 'Svatantrata Ka Mantra - Vande Mataram' (marking 150 years of the national song, composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875) and 'Samriddhi Ka Mantra - Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.
Thirty tableaux rolled down Kartavya Path - 17 from States/UTs and 13 from Ministries/Departments/Services - with highlights from Assam (terracotta), Kerala (Water Metro), Odisha ('Soil to Silicon') and Nagaland (Hornbill Festival).
The Budget Session began on 28 January with the President's Address; the first half ran to 13 February, featuring the presentation and general discussion of the Union Budget.
The Budget Session began on 28 January with President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of both Houses; it was scheduled in two phases (28 Jan-13 Feb and 9 Mar-2 Apr) with 30 sittings.
The Beating Retreat ceremony, marking the formal conclusion of Republic Day celebrations, was held at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi, on 29 January.
DPIIT floated proposals to extend 'design' to virtual designs (GUIs, icons, typefaces) and to accede to the Riyadh Design Law Treaty and the Hague Agreement.
The RBI mandated that all loan disbursals flow directly to the borrower's bank account, required a Key Fact Statement with APR disclosure, and prescribed a cooling-off period of at least three days.
The RBI directed all regulated entities (banks, NBFCs, fintechs, payment aggregators) to prioritise customer data protection in alignment with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, with periodic board reviews.
The RBI conducted Open Market Operations to purchase government securities worth Rs 2 lakh crore in four tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each (including on 5, 12 and 22 January) to ensure durable banking-system liquidity.
Gross Value Added is estimated to grow 7.3% in FY26, led by services (near 10%), with manufacturing and construction around 7% and agriculture at 3.1%.
Wholesale Price Index inflation for December 2025 was 0.83% (provisional) year-on-year, with the WPI food index rising to 0.00% from -2.60% in November.
The Index of Industrial Production for November 2025 grew 6.7% (manufacturing 8.0%, mining 5.4%), and IIP for December 2025 later showed 7.8% growth, signalling robust factory momentum.
Total exports (goods + services) for December 2025 were US$74.01 billion and total imports US$80.94 billion; the April-December merchandise trade deficit stood at US$248.32 billion.
Gross GST collection for December 2025 was Rs 1.75 lakh crore, up 6.1% year-on-year, following the two-tier 'GST 2.0' rate revamp effective 22 September 2025.
The IMF's January WEO Update projected India's growth at 6.3% for 2026 and 6.5% for 2027, retaining India as the fastest-growing major economy.
The World Bank's January Global Economic Prospects pegged South Asia growth at 6.2% in 2026, while the UN's WESP 2026 projected India moderating to about 6.6% in 2026.
The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI stood at 56.8 in January 2026, firmly above 50, with the composite reading around 58.4, indicating strong private-sector activity.
India recorded roughly 710 deals worth about US$20 billion in Q1 2026 - one of the highest activity levels on record - with a record 56 outbound deals worth ~US$3.9 billion.
Average retail (CPI) inflation fell to about 1.7% for April-December 2025-26 (from 4.6% in 2024-25), reflecting easing food prices and a favourable base.
India's current account deficit narrowed to about 0.8% of GDP in the first half of 2025-26, aided by strong services exports and remittances.
Foreign Direct Investment inflows into India reached about US$81 billion in 2025, roughly 13% higher year-on-year, reflecting sustained investor confidence.
The Production Linked Incentive scheme attracted around Rs 2 lakh crore in investment and over Rs 17 lakh crore in production, as cited in the President's address.
The government's sale of its 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank advanced, with financial bids expected in January and the deal potentially exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore.
Indian equities hit fresh records in early January - the Sensex closed near 85,762 and the Nifty50 crossed 26,300, with Nifty touching an intraday record of about 26,373 on 5 January.
The NSO released the First Advance Estimates projecting India's real GDP growth at 7.4% for FY26 (up from 6.5% in FY25), led by financial and public services.
Retail (CPI) inflation for December 2025 rose to 1.33% year-on-year (from 0.7% in November) as food deflation narrowed; core inflation climbed to a 28-month high of 4.8%. This was the last release on the 2012=100 base.
The RBI conducted a USD/INR Buy/Sell Swap auction of US$10 billion with a three-year tenor to reinforce durable rupee liquidity amid seasonal cash outflows.
SEBI notified a sweeping overhaul of the 30-year-old mutual-fund framework (effective 1 April 2026), introducing a performance-linked base expense ratio, reduced brokerage caps, a 'Life Cycle Funds' category and a slimmer rulebook.
India was reaffirmed as the world's third-largest startup ecosystem, with over 2.09 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups by December 2025 - a landmark marked on National Startup Day.
Marking ten years of Startup India, the government highlighted that recognised startups had created over 21 lakh direct jobs, underscoring the ecosystem's role in employment and innovation.
Adani Enterprises completed the acquisition of a 72.8% stake in Flight Simulation Technique Centre Pvt Ltd, strengthening its aviation-training footprint.
India's foreign exchange reserves surged past US$700 billion in mid-January and reached about US$709 billion (week ended 23 January), a record high covering more than 11 months of imports.
Adani Defence Systems and Technologies signed an MoU with Brazil's Embraer to develop a regional transport-aircraft ecosystem in India.
The Economic Survey (tabled 29 January, core to the Budget session) projected real GDP growth of 7.4% and GVA growth of 7.3% for FY26, keeping India the fastest-growing major economy, with FY27 growth projected at 6.8-7.2%.
The Economic Survey was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, projecting real GDP growth of 6.8-7.2% for 2026-27 and about 7.4% for 2025-26, with inflation within the 4% (+/-2%) band.
India fielded one of the largest delegations - 10 states (with five CMs and two deputy CMs) and four Union ministers - to pitch investment opportunities; the WEF launched a report on India in the new geoeconomic order.
The two leaders recast ties around semiconductors, critical minerals and green fuels and launched a German-Indian CEO Forum; Germany agreed to join Exercise MILAN and deploy a Liaison Officer at the IFC-IOR.
Chancellor Merz made his first official India visit, accompanied by 23 leading German CEOs; the two sides signed multiple agreements spanning defence, semiconductors, critical minerals, telecom and bioeconomy.
The World Economic Forum met in Davos, Switzerland under the theme 'A Spirit of Dialogue', drawing nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries; the WEF also released its Global Risks Report 2026.
The UAE President visited India; the two sides signed a Letter of Intent for a Strategic Defence Partnership and pledged to double bilateral trade to US$200 billion, with UAE investment in Gujarat's Dholera zone.
ADNOC Gas agreed to supply 0.5 million metric tonnes of LNG per year to Hindustan Petroleum for ten years in a ~US$3 billion deal, making India a top LNG customer of the UAE.
The 16th India-EU Summit took place at Hyderabad House, co-chaired by PM Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa - the first time the EU's top leadership jointly attended.
After nearly two decades of talks, India and the EU concluded their landmark FTA - the largest either side has concluded - covering about 2 billion people and roughly 25% of global GDP across 20 chapters.
About 99.5% of India's exports get preferential access to the EU, while India offers preferential treatment to ~97% of EU exports; India will cut auto tariffs gradually from 110% to 10% and reduce wine and spirits duties.
The agreement aims to raise bilateral merchandise trade to US$250 billion by 2030-31 (from ~US$136 billion in 2024-25) and services trade to US$100 billion, cushioning Indian exporters against higher US tariffs.
Alongside the FTA, India and the EU signed a Security and Defence Partnership (maritime security, counter-terrorism, cyberdefence) and a mobility/migration agreement expanding legal pathways for Indian students and skilled workers.
Reports indicated India began developing two new interceptors under Phase-III of its Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, designed to counter hypersonic weapons, MIRVs and non-ballistic atmospheric-entry vehicles.
The Indian Navy is set to commission a record 19 warships in 2026 - its biggest single-year addition - including INS Udaygiri and a Nistar-class Diving Support Vessel, roughly one vessel every six weeks.
The 13th edition of the annual India-Kyrgyzstan bilateral special-forces exercise 'Khanjar' focused on urban and mountain warfare, sniping and counter-terrorism, strengthening India-Central Asia defence cooperation.
DRDO's DRDL conducted a long-duration ground test (over 1,000 seconds) of an actively cooled full-scale scramjet combustor in Hyderabad - a foundation for India's Hypersonic Cruise Missile Development Programme.
The 78th Army Day was observed with a parade at Jagatpura, Jaipur - the first ever held outside a cantonment area - under the theme 'Year of Networking and Data Centricity'.
ISRO released the Indian Space Situational Awareness Report 2025 (ISSAR-2025) at the SMOPS-2026 conference in Bengaluru, reinforcing India's commitment to debris-free missions and space surveillance.
NASA launched the Pandora small space telescope aboard a Falcon 9 to study exoplanet atmospheres; the same flight carried NASA's SPARCS and BlackCAT CubeSat telescopes.
ISRO's PSLV-C62 (64th PSLV flight) lifted off from Sriharikota but failed to reach orbit after a deviation in roll rates near the end of third-stage operation. The primary payload was the DRDO-built EOS-N1 satellite; it was the second consecutive PSLV failure.
CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology developed 'BIRSA 101', India's first indigenous CRISPR-based gene therapy for sickle cell disease, with technology transferred to industry for affordable deployment.
As of January 2026, the Design-Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme supported 24 semiconductor design startups; 122 designs were taped out with 56 chips fabricated at 180 nm at SCL Mohali, alongside advanced-node tape-outs.
The IndiaAI Mission (under MeitY) launched the IndiaAI Innovation Challenge 2026 in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH and the Ministry of MSME to build deployment-ready AI solutions.
Under the IndiaAI Mission (Rs 10,371.92 crore outlay), more than 38,000 GPUs were onboarded via the AI compute portal, offered to Indian startups and academia at affordable rates.
The IndiaAI Innovation Centre's call for proposals drew 67 submissions from startups, researchers and entrepreneurs for building indigenous foundation models across healthcare, education and finance.
Jupiter reached opposition on 10 January 2026, appearing at its brightest for the year, while the Quadrantid meteor shower peaked on 3 January (visibility limited by a near-full Moon).
India's full immunisation coverage rose from 62% in 2015 to 98.4% by January 2026, alongside plans for a nationwide HPV vaccination drive and an indigenous Td (tetanus-diphtheria) vaccine in 2026.
Notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, penalties collected under the Air Act, Water Act and EP Act will be credited to a central fund for monitoring, remediation and clean-tech research (admin costs capped at 5%).
MoEFCC notified the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 under the Environment (Protection) Act, replacing the earlier rules to strengthen segregation, processing and extended producer responsibility.
India formally launched its 6th All-India Tiger Estimation at Thanthai Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, conducted every four years under Project Tiger; India hosts an estimated 3,682 tigers (70-75% of the world's wild tigers).
The Indian Army retained the men's ice hockey gold, beating Chandigarh 3-2 in the final; Ladakh's Skarma Tsultim was a standout with four medals.
Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic to win his first Australian Open (7th major and career Grand Slam), while Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka for the women's singles title.
The 2026 Australian Open ran 18 January-1 February at Melbourne Park. Defending men's champion Jannik Sinner lost in the semi-finals; Venus Williams, at 45, became the oldest player in the women's singles draw.
The first phase of the 6th Khelo India Winter Games was held in Leh, Ladakh, featuring ice hockey and ice skating (with figure skating added for the first time); around 900 athletes competed.
The Kalinga Lancers won the men's Hockey India League title (their second), while the SG Pipers won the women's HIL crown.
Held in Los Angeles and hosted by Nikki Glaser, 'One Battle After Another' won Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Best Director and Best Screenplay, while 'Hamnet' won Best Motion Picture (Drama).
Acclaimed novelist Amitav Ghosh released his new book 'Ghost-Eye', with the national tour beginning on 5 January 2026.
A book chronicling the life and journey of President Droupadi Murmu was released on 10 January 2026.
India's highest disaster-management honour went to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (institutional, Rs 51 lakh) and Lt Col Seeta Ashok Shelke (individual, Rs 5 lakh), announced on Parakram Diwas.
The Centre announced 131 Padma Awards - 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri - including 19 women, 16 posthumous awards and 6 from the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category.
The five Padma Vibhushan awardees included veteran actor Dharmendra (posthumous), former Kerala CM V.S. Achuthanandan (posthumous), classical violinist N. Rajam and former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas.
The 13 Padma Bhushan awardees included singer Alka Yagnik, actor Mammootty, industrialist Uday Kotak, former Uttarakhand CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari and adman Piyush Pandey (posthumous).
Padma Shri honourees included cricketers Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur and hockey goalkeeper Savita Punia, among achievers across arts, science, medicine and social work.
Raj Kumar Goel was appointed Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India, heading the apex body under the Right to Information Act.
Sangita Barua was elected President of the Press Club of India, the leading body of journalists in the national capital.
Aparna Garg was appointed Member (Finance) of the Railway Board, part of the apex management of Indian Railways.
As of January 2026, Droupadi Murmu was President (15th), C.P. Radhakrishnan Vice President, Justice Surya Kant the 53rd Chief Justice of India, and Gyanesh Kumar the 26th Chief Election Commissioner.
Praveen Kumar (1993-batch IPS) was made Director General of the BSF, Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor DG of the ITBP, and Rakesh Aggarwal (1994-batch IPS) DG of the NIA.
Observed on the birth anniversary of Louis Braille to raise awareness of Braille as a means of communication and inclusion for the visually impaired.
The annual observance marks the contribution of the overseas Indian community and Mahatma Gandhi's return to India from South Africa in 1915.
Observed to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda; the 2026 theme was 'Ignite the Self, Impact the World'.
The harvest festival marking the sun's transition into Capricorn (Makar rashi) was celebrated across India with regional variations such as Pongal, Lohri and Bihu.
The 129th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was observed as Parakram Diwas ('Day of Valour').
The 16th National Voters' Day was observed under the theme 'My India, My Vote', marking the founding of the Election Commission on 25 January 1950.
Observed on 25 January to highlight the importance of tourism to India's economy, culture and employment.
Observed on 30 January to mark the death anniversary (assassination) of Mahatma Gandhi, with a two-minute national silence.
L. Ganesan, 91, a veteran Indian politician and former Member of Parliament (1980-86, 2004-09), passed away in January 2026.
Kabindra Purkayastha, 94, a long-serving former Member of Parliament (1991-2014) from Assam, passed away in January 2026.
Jayashree Kabir, 73, a Bengali actress known for films including 'Pratidwandi' and 'Simana Periye', passed away in January 2026.
N. Sundaram, 72, a Tamil Nadu politician and former MLA (1996-2001, 2006-11), died following a fall in January 2026.
The WEF released its Global Risks Report 2026 at Davos, flagging misinformation/disinformation, extreme weather, geoeconomic confrontation and societal polarisation among the top near-term global risks.
India climbed five places to 80th in the Henley Passport Index 2026, with visa-free, visa-on-arrival or e-visa access to about 55 destinations.
It covers 103 verified current affairs from January 2026 across 13 sections including polity, economy, international relations, government initiatives, science, defence, sports and awards. Each item includes a short explanation and a GK Byte linking it to static general knowledge.
Yes. The full January 2026 capsule PDF is free to download on MockSutra, with no login required.
It is built for Bank (IBPS/SBI), SSC, Railway (RRB), Punjab Police Constable, RSSB LDC / Junior Assistant and state PSC exams, and is useful for any Indian government exam with a current affairs section.
Read each story's heading and explanation once, note the GK Byte, then use the free PDF for a fast final skim before your exam.
