National News

Development projects launched by Prime Minister

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched multiple development projects worth more than ₹830 crore at Singur in West Bengal's Hooghly district. These initiatives primarily focused on enhancing rail, port, and inland waterway connectivity to accelerate growth in eastern India.

Mazor Projects

About West Bengal

STATE SPECIAL NEWS

UP HealthTech Conclave 1.0 in Lucknow

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the UP HealthTech Conclave 1.0 in Lucknow.
• The three-day flagship event (January 18–20) was organized by the UP Promote Pharma Council to establish the state as a global hub for medical technology, healthcare innovation, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• The Chief Minister also launched the Integrated Medical Research Application System (UP-IMRAS), a digital platform designed to streamline and online approvals for clinical trials and medical research.

Uttar Pradesh

State-Level Health Dialogue Session in Shimla

• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu addressed the first-of-its-kind State-Level Health Dialogue Session at Peterhoff, Shimla.
• As per Chief Minister child sex ratio in Himachal Pradesh has increased from 947 to 964 in the last three years.

Himachal Pradesh

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

"Board of Peace" For Gaza

• U.S. President Donald Trump formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join a newly established international body called the "Board of Peace". This board is designed to oversee the second phase of a U.S.-led plan to bring lasting stability and reconstruction to Gaza.
• The Board of Peace is a U.S.-led international organization established by President Donald Trump in January 2026 to oversee the transitional governance, reconstruction, and demilitarization of the Gaza Strip following the end of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
• The US administration has also circulated a draft charter to around 60 countries that calls for members to contribute one billion dollars in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years.

About Board of Peace for Gaza

UAE President on official visit to India

• United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is on official visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• This was his third official visit to India as President of the UAE and his fifth visit to the country over the last decade.
• The leaders will discuss advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a focus on trade, investment, energy, and defense industry cooperation.
• The visit followed a period where bilateral trade has crossed $100 billion in FY 2024-25, supported by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Syrian govt announces nationwide ceasefire

• Syrian transitional government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, announced an immediate nationwide ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
• This deal follows the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and significant recent military gains by the Syrian army, including the capture of the strategic town of Tabqa and entry into Raqqa city.
• The agreement was reached following a meeting between al-Sharaa and the US special envoy, Tom Barrack, who praised the deal as a critical step toward a unified Syria.

Syria (Syrian Arab Republic)

SUMMITS AND CONFERNCES

86th All India Presiding Officers Conference (AIPOC)

• The 86th All India Presiding Officers Conference (AIPOC) was hosted by Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly at Vidhan Bhavan, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

The dignitaries brainstormed on the following agenda:

1. Leveraging Technology for Transparent, Efficient and Citizen - Centric Legislative Processes;
2. Capacity Building of Legislators to Increase Efficiency and Strengthen Democratic Governance; and
3. Accountability of Legislature towards the Public.

IMPORTANT DAYS

NDRF Raising Day

• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Raising Day is observed annually in India on January 19.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

ECONOMY & BANKING

India’s First Open-Sea Marine Fish Farming Project

• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh Launched India’s First Open-Sea Marine Fish Farming Project at North Bay, Andaman Sea.
• This pilot initiative focuses on the cultivation of marine finfish and seaweed in natural ocean conditions as a major step toward realizing India's Blue Economy.

Key Project Details

India's First Helium Recovery Plant in Tamil Nadu

• Engineers India Limited (EIL) has announced the development of the nation's first Helium Recovery Demonstration Plant in Kuthalam, Tamil Nadu.
• This initiative directly supports the National Critical Mineral Mission, aiming to reduce India's heavy dependence on imported helium—a rare gas vital for futuristic industries.
• Announced as a partnership between the ONGC Energy Centre Trust (OECT) and Engineers India Limited (EIL), the facility aims to recover high-purity, Grade-A helium from natural gas streams to reduce the country's total dependence on imports.
• The plant utilizes technology developed by the CSIR–Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP).

Engineers India Limited (EIL)

Rajhara Colliery

• The Rajhara Colliery in the Rajhara Area of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) was officially reopened.
• The Rajhara Colliery, operated by Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), officially resumed full-scale coal mining operations after being closed for approximately 16 years.
• The reopening ceremony in Jharkhand's Palamu district was inaugurated by Union Minister Satish Chandra Dubey.

BOOKS and AUTHORS

Book: “The Groundbreaker: Risks, Rewards, and Lessons from a Legendary Entrepreneur”

• Book “The Groundbreaker: Risks, Rewards, and Lessons from a Legendary Entrepreneur” was released and it is written by Kanwal Rekhi.
• Kanwal Rekhi, a pioneering Indian-American entrepreneur known as the "Godfather of Silicon Valley's Indian Mafia".
• It covers Rekhi’s journey from India to becoming the first Indian-American founder to take a company public on the NASDAQ (Excelan), his role in co-founding TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), and his experiences in Silicon Valley.

ART & CULTURE

53rd World Book Fair

• The 53rd New Delhi World Book Fair concluded on January 18, 2026.
• The nine-day event was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, from January 10-18, 2026.

Highlights

ENVIRONMENT + SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

CAQM invokes Stage 4 of GRAP in Delhi NCR

• Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage IV (Severe+) of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect. This decision follows a significant spike in the Air Quality Index (AQI), which surpassed the 400 threshold recently.

About GRAP Stage IV

About GRAP

Kaziranga Elevated Corridor

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the bhoomi pujan of the ₹6,950-crore Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project in Assam's Kaliabor.
• This infrastructure project is designed to balance regional connectivity with the protection of wildlife in Assam's Kaziranga National Park.
• The project aims to solve a longstanding conflict where wildlife, including one-horned rhinos and elephants, must cross the busy NH-715 to reach higher ground in the Karbi Anglong Hills during monsoon floods.

About Project

Crustacean discovered in the Kavaratti lagoon

• A tiny crustacean discovered from the Kavaratti lagoon on the Lakshadweep islands has been named Indiaphonte bijoyi.
• This discovery, established in January 2026, represents both a new genus, Indiaphonte, honoring India, and a new species, bijoyi, named after Dr. S. Bijoy Nandan. It belongs to the family Laophontidae within the order Harpacticoida.

DEFENCE NEWS

Pinaka Guided Rocket

• The first production consignment of the Pinaka Guided Rocket was dispatched.
• The consignment was flagged off by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from the facility of Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL), a subsidiary of Solar Industries, located in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• This inaugural batch of guided rockets is destined for Armenia. Armenia previously signed a deal worth approximately ₹2,000 crore for four Pinaka batteries, which included these advanced guided versions.
• Defence Minister also inaugurated a new Medium Caliber Ammunition Facility at the SDAL plant, which will produce 30mm ammunition for the Indian Army and Navy.

ICG and the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) HNS response drill

• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) conducted a joint Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) response drill in Mumbai.
• This exercise was a key outcome of the 22nd High-Level Meeting held between the two agencies in New Delhi
• The exercise took place onboard the ICG's specialized pollution response vessel, ICGS Samudra Prahari. It featured the ICG Pollution Response Strike Team and the JCG National Strike Team (NST).
• The drill focused on response protocols for hazardous chemical spills at sea, aimed at enhancing interoperability, operational synergy, and mutual understanding in handling complex marine pollution incidents.
• This collaboration reinforces the long-standing maritime partnership established under the 2006 Memorandum of Cooperation and the India-Japan Joint Declaration of August 2025, which emphasizes a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG)

INS Sagardhwani

• INS Sagardhwani was flagged off from the Southern Naval Command in Kochi for the fifth edition of the Sagar Maitri (SM-5) initiative.
• INS Sagardhwani (A74) is an indigenous Marine Acoustic Research Ship (MARS) operated by the Indian Navy for the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a laboratory under the DRDO.
• The Sagar Maitri initiative aims to boost scientific cooperation in ocean research with Indian Ocean Rim countries.
• The mission will involve collaboration with eight IOR nations and aims to collect oceanographic data. The initiative aligns with the Indian government's MAHASAGAR and SAGAR initiatives.

MAHASAGAR and SAGAR initiatives

SPORTS

India-New Zealand ODI Cricket Series 2026

• New Zealand defeated India by 41 runs in the third and final ODI at the Holkar Stadium in Indore and clinched the series by 2-1.
• Daryl Mitchell was named both Player of the Match and Player of the Series for his dominant batting performance, totaling 352 runs across the three games.
• This was New Zealand's first ODI series win in India in eight attempts over 37 years.
• The loss marked India's first-ever ODI defeat at the Holkar Stadium, ending a streak of seven consecutive wins at the venue.

Vijay Hazare Trophy

• Vidarbha won the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, clinching their maiden title by defeating Saurashtra by 38 runs.
• The tournament featured 38 teams and was held across multiple cities, including Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur, from December 24, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
• Aman Mokhade (Vidarbha) was declared Player of the Series.

India Open 2026

• The India Open 2026 concluded in New Delhi, with Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei and An Se-young of South Korea claiming the men's and women's singles titles, respectively.

India Open 2026 Winners