Find the Weekly Current Affairs for the 2nd week of January 2026. Stay informed with the most important news and events from around the world. Our curated updates provide a comprehensive summary of the week’s key happenings, covering politics, economics, science, technology, sports, and international affairs.
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Highlights of January 2nd Week Current Affairs
- Indian banks’ asset quality has strengthened sharply, with the Gross NPA ratio falling to about 2.1 percent by late 2025, the lowest level in decades, reflecting recovery from the twin balance sheet crisis of the previous decade.
- Strong regulatory reforms such as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, SARFAESI Act, improved RBI supervision, and the use of Asset Reconstruction Companies have collectively restored credit discipline and reduced stressed assets.
- The Arctic is warming at more than twice the global average, with record-high surface air temperatures and accelerating phenomena such as Atlantification, greening of tundra, and permafrost thaw impacting ecosystems and indigenous livelihoods.
- Melting Arctic ice is reshaping global geopolitics by opening new shipping routes like the Northern Sea Route and increasing strategic competition, while platforms such as the Arctic Council remain crucial for cooperation and governance.
- India’s role in Arctic affairs is expanding through scientific research, observer status in the Arctic Council, the Himadri research station, and its Arctic Policy focused on climate and cryosphere studies.
- PRAGATI has emerged as a flagship example of technology-driven governance in India, enabling real-time monitoring of projects, high issue-resolution rates, and stronger Centre–State coordination.
- Long-pending infrastructure projects such as major rail links, bridges, and airports have been unlocked through PRAGATI’s accountability-driven and data-backed decision-making framework.
- NITI Aayog’s affordable housing framework proposes updated definitions, zoning reforms, transit-oriented development, rental housing policies, and mandatory EWS/LIG reservations to address urban housing shortages.
- India has strengthened energy security and refining capability with the commissioning of advanced residue upgradation and hydrocracking facilities, enabling cleaner fuel production and better use of heavy crude.
- Scientific and institutional advances, from understanding the Mpemba Effect through supercomputer simulations to new space instruments like ISRO’s Dust Experiment and initiatives by BIS, highlight India’s growing research, standards, and technological ecosystem.
- The Draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025 proposes replacing the Insecticides Act, 1968 with a modern, science-based and digitally driven regulatory framework to address contemporary agricultural, health and environmental challenges.
- The Bill introduces stronger institutional mechanisms like the Central Pesticides Board and a fully digital registration and tracking system to improve transparency, curb counterfeit pesticides and streamline approvals.
- Provisions such as deemed registration for generic pesticides, poisoning surveillance, accredited testing laboratories and mandatory worker safety standards aim to balance ease of doing business with public health protection.
- The Union Government has relaxed norms for private and assisted afforestation on leased forest land by recognising afforestation and Assisted Natural Regeneration as forestry activities.
- As a result, compensatory afforestation and Net Present Value payments are waived for such activities, encouraging private participation and faster green cover expansion.
- Census 2027 has been formally initiated, with houselisting operations scheduled for 2026 and population enumeration in early 2027, marking India’s 16th decennial census.
- Census 2027 will be India’s first fully digital census and will include a historic nationwide caste enumeration along with innovations like self-enumeration portals and real-time monitoring systems.
- India has assumed the BRICS Chairmanship for 2026 and will host the 18th BRICS Summit, focusing on resilience, innovation, cooperation and environmental sustainability.
- The United States has announced withdrawal from participation and funding of 66 international organisations, potentially weakening multilateral cooperation on climate action, development and peacebuilding.
- Recent regulatory and institutional developments include concerns over unpaid TRAI penalties, the 125th anniversary of DGMS highlighting mine safety governance, and the commissioning of ICGS Samudra Pratap, India’s first indigenously designed pollution control vessel.
- India is pushing for AI models that are ethical, unbiased, transparent, and citizen-centric, ensuring technology supports inclusive development rather than deepening social or economic inequalities.
- Ethical AI in India stresses data privacy, fair competition, and protection of creators’ rights, rejecting exploitative practices such as training AI on copyrighted content without consent.
- Preventing bias in AI systems is a key priority, as algorithmic decisions in areas like credit, hiring, or welfare can otherwise reinforce historical gender and social discrimination.
- Transparency in AI is being promoted through explainable systems and open-source initiatives like AI4Bhārat, helping build public trust and accountability.
- AI is increasingly transforming governance by improving public service delivery, justice accessibility, climate resilience, healthcare, education, and disaster management.
- National initiatives such as BharatGen, India AI Governance Guidelines, and ANRF’s Mission AI aim to align advanced AI development with India’s linguistic diversity, policy needs, and social impact.
- The Swadesh Darshan Scheme and its revamped 2.0 version are strengthening tourism through sustainable, destination-centric development with strong community participation.
- District-Led Textiles Transformation seeks to convert high-potential and aspirational districts into globally competitive, employment-generating textile hubs, with special focus on MSMEs and tribal regions.
- Environmental thought leadership in India has been deeply influenced by figures like Madhav Gadgil, who championed community-based conservation and sustainable development frameworks.
- Infrastructure, housing, and economic resilience are being reinforced through initiatives like strategic hydropower projects, the SWAMIH housing fund, sports governance reforms, and UN-backed growth projections for India.
- DRDO successfully ground-tested a full-scale, actively cooled scramjet engine for over 12 minutes, marking a major milestone in India’s hypersonic cruise missile development.
- With this achievement, India joins an elite group of nations—USA, Russia, China, Australia, and France—capable of advanced scramjet engine testing.
- Scramjet engines enable sustained hypersonic flight (Mach 5+), offering lighter, fuel-efficient, air-breathing propulsion crucial for next-generation missiles.
- Hypersonic weapons provide strategic advantages due to their extreme speed, lower flight altitude than ballistic missiles, and ability to evade conventional air defense systems.
- The launch of Param Shakti, a 3.1 Petaflop supercomputer at IIT Madras, strengthens India’s academic and R&D capabilities under the National Supercomputing Mission.
- Built using indigenous C-DAC RUDRA servers and open-source software, Param Shakti boosts research in aerospace, climate modeling, materials science, and drug discovery.
- India has formally objected to China’s infrastructure activities in the Shaksgam Valley, citing sovereignty concerns over the strategically sensitive Trans-Karakoram Tract.
- The National IED Data Management System (NIDMS) enhances India’s counter-terrorism capacity through centralized data analysis and inter-agency coordination.
- Establishment of the National Environmental Standard Laboratory (NESL) positions India as a global leader in environmental metrology and air pollution monitoring standards.
- India’s first engagement with the Weimar Triangle (France, Germany, Poland) signals deeper diplomatic, security, and economic engagement with key European powers.
- ISRO’s PSLV-C62 mission failed to achieve precise Sun-Synchronous Orbit after an anomaly in the solid-fuel third stage disrupted the planned orbital injection of EOS-N1 and 15 co-passenger satellites.
- The mission marked the 64th flight of PSLV and the 9th dedicated commercial launch by NSIL, ISRO’s government-owned commercial arm established in 2019 to handle India’s space-based commercial activities.
- A special payload on the PSLV-C62 mission was Kestrel Initial Demonstrator, a Spanish re-entry vehicle prototype that was planned to separate from the main trajectory and splash down in the South Pacific.
- The Supreme Court urged the Union Government to consider adding a Romeo–Juliet clause in the POCSO Act to prevent criminalisation of consensual relationships between adolescents close in age.
- The Court observed that POCSO is frequently misused by families to oppose teenage relationships, leading to wrongful arrests and dilution of the law’s original child-protection purpose.
- China’s EAST nuclear fusion reactor achieved stable plasma at densities beyond the Greenwald limit, a major scientific breakthrough that brings controlled fusion energy closer to practical reality.
- India continues to contribute to fusion research through facilities like ADITYA and SST-1 at the Institute for Plasma Research and as a partner in the global ITER project in France.
- Global oceans absorbed a record 23 zettajoules of heat in 2025, pushing sea surface temperatures to about 0.5°C above the 1981–2010 average and intensifying marine heatwaves and extreme weather.
- ISRO moved closer to establishing the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by inviting industry participation for BAS-1 hardware, with the first module planned by 2028 and a full space station by 2035.
- India marked Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary on 12 January, remembering his role in spreading Indian spiritual thought globally and founding the Ramakrishna Mission to link spirituality with social service.
- India and Germany signed multiple agreements covering defence, trade, technology, mobility, education, and Indo-Pacific cooperation, marking 25 years of strategic partnership (2025) and ahead of 75 years of diplomatic relations in 2026.
- Defence cooperation was strengthened through a Joint Declaration of Intent on a Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, participation in Indian military exercises, and the launch of a Track 1.5 foreign policy and security dialogue.
- Germany announced a visa-free transit facility for Indian passport holders, aimed at boosting business travel, academic exchange, and professional mobility between the two countries.
- The Union Government allocated ₹5,925 crore for coal and lignite exploration from FY 2026–27, while promoting cleaner coal through gasification, first-mile connectivity, renewable integration, and carbon management frameworks.
- India reiterated the strategic importance of the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) to diversify trade routes, reduce logistics costs and time, strengthen global value chain integration, and enhance geopolitical connectivity with Europe and West Asia.
- India’s fish production doubled from 95.79 lakh tonnes (FY 2013–14) to 197.75 lakh tonnes (FY 2024–25), driven by schemes like PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, aquaculture infrastructure funds, integrated aquaparks, and digital technologies.
- India is set to be invited to join Pax Silica, a U.S.-led initiative focused on secure and resilient global technology supply chains covering semiconductors, AI infrastructure, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing.
- The National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026 were notified, mandating inclusion of sportspersons of outstanding merit, enhanced women’s representation, independent election panels, and stricter disqualification norms.
- The Australia Group marked 40 years of operation as an informal export control regime to prevent proliferation of chemical and biological weapons, with India’s membership since 2018 strengthening its non-proliferation credentials.
- Key institutional developments included an Indian diplomat being appointed Chair of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (2026–27), strengthened vocational regulation through NCVET, a PNGRB–Germany MoU on hydrogen regulation, and enhanced environmental coordination via the NIRANTAR platform.
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8 January to 14 January (Weekly Current Affairs Quiz)