Daily GK Update- 22nd Jan, 2026

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. IIT Delhi Launches Centre of Excellence for Regulatory Affairs in the Power Sector: Union Minister of Power, Shri Manohar Lal, inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Regulatory Affairs in the Power Sector at IIT Delhi, envisioned as a national-level hub for regulatory research, capacity building, advisory support, and knowledge dissemination.By situating the Centre within a premier academic institution and collaborating closely with CERC and Grid India, it integrates policy, regulation, system operations, and academic research under a single institutional framework to address key sectoral challenges.

 

2. Union Environment Minister Chairs 88th SC-NBWL Meeting to Review Wildlife and Eco-Sensitive Zone Proposals: The 88th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) was chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi, focusing on wildlife conservation and sustainable development.During the meeting, the committee considered 70 proposals related to public utility services, defence requirements, and infrastructure development in and around Protected Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves, and Eco-Sensitive Zones, ensuring compliance with the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

 

3. PM Modi Addresses Bagurumba Dwhou 2026 in Assam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Bagurumba Dwhou 2026, a major cultural festival celebrating the heritage of the Bodo community, at Sarusajai Stadium, Guwahati, Assam. The festival showcased the traditional Bodo folk dance and featured performances by over 10,000 artists, highlighting Assam’s rich cultural heritage.

 

4. Tamil Nadu Announces Semmozhi Illakiya Virudhu to Honour Literary Excellence in Major Indian Languages: The Tamil Nadu government announced a state-sponsored annual award called the Semmozhi Illakiya Virudhu (Classical Language Literary Award) to recognise outstanding works in major Indian languages other than Hindi, with a cash prize of ₹5 lakh.Unveiled by CM M K Stalin at the Chennai International Book Fair, the award will be conferred annually and will have a national-level character, celebrating literary excellence across linguistic boundaries.In its first phase, the award will recognise works in seven Indian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odiya, Bengali, and Marathi, with the potential to expand to other languages in future phases.

 

5. Five-Time Bihar MLA Nitin Nabin Elected Unopposed as Youngest BJP National President: Five-time Bihar MLA Nitin Nabin (45) has been elected unopposed as the BJP National President, becoming the youngest leader ever to hold the top post. He succeeds J P Nadda, who has headed the party since 2020.

 

6. 21 January – Foundation Day of Tripura, Manipur, and Meghalaya: 21 January is observed as the Foundation Day of Tripura, Manipur, and Meghalaya, marking their establishment as full-fledged states in India. On 21 January 1972, under the North Eastern Region (Re‑organisation) Act, 1971, these regions were officially granted statehood — Tripura and Manipur transitioned from Union Territories/princely states, and Meghalaya became a separate state from Assam. The day is celebrated with cultural programmes, showcasing the traditions, dances, and customs of the three states at various venues across India.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. India–UAE Ties Strengthen: Trade Target of $200 Billion by 2032: India and the UAE agreed to double bilateral trade to over $200 billion by 2032 and expand cooperation in large nuclear reactors and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). PM Narendra Modi invited UAE sovereign wealth funds to participate in India’s second Infrastructure Fund, scheduled to be launched in 2026; UAE firms First Abu Dhabi Bank and DP World will set up operations in GIFT City, Gujarat. A 10-year LNG supply agreement was signed for 500,000 tonnes per annum from 2028 between HPCL and Adnoc Gas; leaders also discussed the Gaza Board of Peace proposal and the situation in Iran.

 

2. Madrid to Host Laureus World Sports Awards for Third Consecutive Year: Madrid will host the Laureus World Sports Awards for the third consecutive year, with the ceremony scheduled at Cibeles Palace on April 20. The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual global ceremony that honours sportspersons, teams, and outstanding sporting achievements from across the world. The awards were established in 1999 by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation to celebrate excellence in sports and promote social change through sport.

 

3. 6th ASEAN-India Digital Ministers Meeting Focuses on Inclusive, Secure, and Connected Digital Ecosystem: The 6th ASEAN-India Digital Ministers Meeting was held virtually under the theme “Adaptive ASEAN: From Connectivity to Connected Intelligence”, focusing on regional digital cooperation, inclusion, and integration. The meeting was co-chaired by Telecom Secretary Amit Agrawal (India) and Vietnam’s Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, and approved the ASEAN-India Digital Work Plan 2026, covering ICT training, regulators’ conferences, and telecom ICT deployment.

 

4. Why Youth Exchanges Could Become the Strongest Bridge Between China and India: Across the world’s two most populous countries, young people are increasingly being seen not just as beneficiaries of development, but as its primary drivers. In both China and India, national leadership has placed the aspirations and energy of Gen Z and Gen Alpha at the centre of long-term planning. Beyond domestic priorities, there is also a growing recognition that youth-to-youth engagement can stabilise and humanise a relationship often strained by geopolitics. Both Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi have repeatedly underlined the role of youth in achieving their countries’ centenary goals. In China, young people are portrayed as inheritors of the national rejuvenation project, while in India, they are framed as the backbone of economic growth and global influence. With China and India together accounting for the world’s largest youth populations, their policy choices regarding education, employment and international exposure will shape not only domestic futures, but also global economic and political trends.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

DEFENCE

 

1. INS Sudarshini to Embark on 10-Month Lokayan 26 Voyage: INS Sudarshini will embark on a 10-month expedition under Lokayan 26, covering over 22,000 nautical miles and visiting 18 ports across 13 countries to showcase India’s maritime heritage and promote international naval cooperation.Over 200 trainees from the Indian Navy and Coast Guard will gain hands-on experience in navigation and traditional seamanship, interact with foreign naval counterparts, and build enduring professional bonds. The ship will participate in prestigious tall-ship events like Escale à Sète (France) and SAIL 250 (USA), serving as a platform for cultural diplomacy, maritime partnerships, and projecting India’s naval capability and goodwill globally.

 

2. India Flags Off First Batch of Guided Pinaka Rockets for Armenia: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the first batch of guided Pinaka rocket systems for Armenia.The rockets were dispatched from a facility in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and showcase the Pinaka system’s accuracy and extended range, highlighting India as a reliable supplier of advanced defence technology. Armenia signed a Rs 2,000 crore deal in September 2022 for four Pinaka batteries, including unguided, extended-range, and guided variants; deliveries of the initial unguided systems began in July 2023 and concluded by late 2024. Minister Rajnath Singh also inaugurated SDAL’s state-of-the-art medium calibre ammunition manufacturing facility in Nagpur.

 

SPORTS

 

1. Vidarbha Lift Maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy, Beat Saurashtra in Final: Vidarbha clinched their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy, defeating two-time champions Saurashtra by 38 runs in the final.

The final was played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru, and the tournament marked the 33rd edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu remain the most successful teams, with five titles each in the tournament’s history.

 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

1. Wikimedia Foundation Partners with Big Tech for Paid AI Access to Wikipedia Content: The Wikimedia Foundation, the parent body of Wikipedia, has partnered with companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity to provide paid access to Wikipedia content for AI training.Wikipedia hosts around 65 million articles across more than 300 languages, serving as a vast resource for AI models. Its content is created and overseen by approximately 250,000 volunteer editors worldwide and receives nearly 15 billion views each month.

2. Why ‘Digital Arrest’ Scams Are Exploding in India — and What Makes Them So Effective: The Supreme Court’s recent suo motu intervention on the surge of so-called “digital arrest” frauds has brought national attention to a crime that has quietly devastated thousands of Indian households. Far from being a niche cyber offence, these scams reveal deeper weaknesses in India’s digital governance, policing capacity, and social psychology — vulnerabilities that fraudsters have learned to exploit with alarming efficiency. Last month, the Supreme Court of India took suo motu  cognisance of complaints from an elderly couple and reports of widespread online fraud described as “digital arrest”. The Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation and select States to begin a coordinated pan-India probe. Recognising that the fraud involves complex money trails, the Court also advised the Reserve Bank of India to deploy artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools to track money layering across multiple bank accounts. Internet service providers and technology platforms were asked to cooperate fully with investigators.

 

3. Why Reusable Rockets Are Reshaping the Economics of Space — and What It Means for India: For nearly four decades, space exploration was dominated by government agencies and expendable rockets — powerful, complex, and used just once. That era is now giving way to a commercial revolution. Private companies are not only launching more frequently, but fundamentally altering how humanity accesses space. With the global space economy projected to cross $1 trillion by 2030, the shift toward reusable rockets has emerged as the single most important driver of lower costs and higher launch cadence. Reaching orbit is an unforgiving engineering challenge. Rockets must overcome two major hurdles: gravity, which constantly pulls them back to Earth, and aerodynamic drag as they punch through the atmosphere. With nothing external to push against, rockets move forward by ejecting exhaust gases backward at supersonic speeds. This reality is captured by the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, which links a rocket’s final speed to its mass and fuel. The equation exposes a brutal truth: fuel itself is heavy, so rockets need large amounts of fuel just to lift fuel. As a result, over 90% of a rocket’s mass at liftoff is propellant and tanks, leaving less than 4% for the actual satellite or spacecraft.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. IMF Upgrades India’s GDP Growth Forecast to 7.3% for FY 2025-26: The IMF raised India’s GDP growth forecast for FY 2025-26 to 7.3%, up from its earlier estimate of 6.6%, reflecting stronger economic momentum. According to the January 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) update, India’s growth is projected to moderate to 6.4% in both 2026 and 2027. The IMF expects global economic growth to remain resilient, at 3.3% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027, broadly stable compared to 3.3% in 2025.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. C-DOT Wins SKOCH Award 2025 for Indigenous Cell Broadcast Solution Enhancing Disaster Alerts: C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) received the SKOCH Award 2025 for its Cell Broadcast Solution (CBS) during the 104th SKOCH Summit under the theme “Resourcing Viksit Bharat,” recognising excellence in technology-driven governance and public service. The Cell Broadcast Solution is an indigenous disaster and emergency alert platform that enables near real-time dissemination of life-saving alerts to citizens in affected areas through cellular networks, integrating multiple agencies such as IMD, CWC, INCOIS, DGR, and Forest Survey of India. The system unifies mobile service providers, State Disaster Management Authorities, and the National Disaster Management Authority to create an automated, geo-targeted, multi-hazard alert system supporting 21 Indian languages, enhancing disaster risk reduction and management efficiency.