Current Affairs January 2026 for UPSC: India-EU FTA, PSLV-C62 Failure, Economic Survey 2025-26, Solid Waste Rules, Padma Awards and UGC Equity Rules

January 2026 at a Glance

🎯 January 2026: 1 to 31 January. This note covers the month in six boxes, each tagged by subject and each with the static link UPSC builds the question on. Facts come from official documents where they exist (the Economic Survey, the PMO outcomes list, WHO) and from named secondary sources where they do not; secondary facts are marked so you know what to re-check.

January at a glance

International Relations: Venezuela, US Withdrawals, Germany, Gaza and the India-EU FTA

January's international news was dominated by US policy, Europe and Gaza.

International relations (IR)

• Venezuela (3 January): US forces seized President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas; Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez became acting president, and Maduro faces US narco-terrorism charges. The legality was disputed (early reports, secondary). Static: Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves; it is in South America and has been in economic crisis since the mid-2010s.

• US withdrawals (7 January): the US announced it was leaving 66 international organisations, 31 of them UN bodies and 35 non-UN, including (reported) the UNFCCC, the IPCC, IRENA and the International Solar Alliance. Static: the ISA is the India-France initiative launched at COP21.

• Germany (12-13 January): Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited India with 23 CEOs. The PMO outcomes list covered defence and security, trade, critical minerals, emerging technologies, traditional medicines, renewable energy and culture, including a memorandum on the National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal (Gujarat). The 2026 PYQ asked which outcomes were incorrect, so memorise details of state visits.

• Gaza (14 and 22 January): the US announced 'phase two' of the ceasefire on 14 January; on 22 January President Trump launched the Board of Peace at Davos with more than 20 countries signing its charter (including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia). India was invited but did not sign; France, the UK, China and Germany stayed away. Static: UNSC Resolution 2803 (17 November 2025) backed a Board of Peace for Gaza.

• India-EU (25-27 January): European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were chief guests at the 77th Republic Day and co-chaired the 16th India-EU Summit on 27 January, where the free trade agreement was announced as concluded (talks ended 26 January). The summit also discussed a strategic defence partnership and a mobility agreement. Legal scrubbing (5-6 months) and ratification, including by the European Parliament, remain. Static: the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism was the main sticking point.

Economy: the Economic Survey 2025-26

The Economic Survey is the big economy event of January; the Budget followed on 1 February.

Economy

• Economic Survey 2025-26 was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 29 January 2026, a day after the Budget Session began (28 January to 2 April; the Budget was presented on Sunday, 1 February).

• Growth: the First Advance Estimates put FY26 real GDP growth at 7.4 per cent (GVA 7.3 per cent), the fourth straight year India is the fastest-growing major economy; the Survey projects FY27 growth of 6.8 to 7.2 per cent. (A rebased GDP series was released on 27 February: see the February note.)

• Fiscal: the central fiscal-deficit target for FY26 is 4.4 per cent of GDP; 62.3 per cent of the Budget Estimate had been reached by November 2025.

• External sector: forex reserves covered over 11 months of imports on 16 January 2026 and about 94 per cent of external debt outstanding at the end of September 2025.

• Trade: see the India-EU FTA above; the EU is India's biggest goods trading partner (MEA Annual Report 2025).

Polity, Governance and Awards

Two items matter for polity and one for governance.

Polity, governance and awards

• UGC equity regulations: the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 were notified in mid-January and drew nationwide protests. On 29 January a Supreme Court bench led by CJI Surya Kant used Article 142 to stay them, keeping Rule 3(1)(c) in abeyance (it limited the definition of caste-based discrimination to SC, ST and OBC students) and directing that the 2012 regulations continue until further orders; notice was returnable on 19 March. Static: Article 142 lets the Supreme Court pass any order necessary for 'complete justice'; the UGC is a statutory body under the UGC Act, 1956.

• Padma Awards 2026 (25 January): 131 awardees - 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. The Vibhushan list includes actor Dharmendra and V.S. Achuthanandan (both posthumous), jurist K.T. Thomas, violinist N. Rajam and P. Narayanan; Padma Bhushan includes Mammootty and Alka Yagnik; cricketer Rohit Sharma and hockey player Savita Punia are among the Padma Shri names (secondary lists differ slightly: check the MHA list). Static: Padma Awards (Vibhushan, Bhushan, Shri) are announced on the eve of Republic Day; the Bharat Ratna is separate.

Environment and Health

January brought one rule change and one health scare for Environment and Health.

Environment and health

• Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026: notified by the Environment Ministry on about 27 January under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to take effect on 1 April 2026, replacing the 2016 rules. Key features: segregation into four streams (wet, dry, sanitary, special care); Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility for entities with a floor area of 20,000 sq m or more, water use of 40,000 litres a day or more, or waste of 100 kg a day or more; buffer zones around facilities above five tonnes a day; polluter-pays compensation; a central online portal.

• Ramsar sites (30-31 January): two more wetlands, Patna Bird Sanctuary (Etah district, Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand (Kutch, Gujarat's only Conservation Reserve and a stopover on the western migratory flyway), were designated, taking India's tally from 96 to 98 Ramsar sites, announced ahead of World Wetlands Day (2 February). Static: the Ramsar Convention (1971) protects wetlands of international importance; Ramsar sites are listed by the Convention, not by India's wetland rules.

• Nipah virus: two health workers at a private Barasat hospital (West Bengal) tested positive, confirmed by the National Institute of Virology, Pune, on 13 January; WHO was notified on 26 January. Over 190 contacts tested negative. WHO rated the global risk low and West Bengal's sub-national risk moderate. Static: Nipah is a bat-borne zoonotic virus; the earlier Kerala outbreaks were 2018 onwards.

Defence and Space

Defence and space gave one parade and one setback.

Defence and space

• Army Day (15 January): the 78th Army Day parade was held in Jaipur, with the theme of networking and data-centric warfare; displays included the T-90 and Arjun tanks, K-9 Vajra and Dhanush guns, BrahMos, Pinaka and drones. Static: Army Day marks the day in 1949 when General K.M. Cariappa took over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief.

• PSLV-C62 failure (12 January): ISRO's PSLV lifted off with the earth-observation satellite EOS-N1 and 15 co-passengers (16 payloads). The first two stages were normal, but a roll-rate disturbance near the end of the third stage took the vehicle off its flight path and the satellites did not reach orbit. It was the second PSLV failure in about eight months after PSLV-C61 (May 2025, a drop in third-stage chamber pressure); a failure analysis committee was set up. Static: the PSLV has four alternately solid and liquid stages; its third stage is solid (HPS3).

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 January into questions.

How UPSC could ask this next

• Count and list questions: the number of Padma Awards in each category; the outcomes of a state visit (which are not correct); the four waste streams of the SWM Rules 2026.

• Statement questions: 'Article 142 was used by the Supreme Court to stay ...', 'India was a signatory of the Board of Peace charter' (false), 'the India-EU FTA has been signed and ratified' (false: concluded, awaiting signing).

• S&T: PSLV stage structure and what happened in C61 and C62; Nipah's reservoir host.

• Economy: the Survey's FY27 growth range and the base-year change that followed.

Test Yourself: Practice Questions

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

Practice Questions

Q1. The Economic Survey 2025-26 projected real GDP growth for FY27 in the range of

• (a) 8.0 to 8.5 per cent

• (b) 5.5 to 6.0 per cent

• (c) 7.4 to 7.8 per cent

• (d) 6.8 to 7.2 per cent

Q2. The Economic Survey 2025-26 was tabled in Parliament on

• (a) 28 January 2026

• (b) 29 January 2026

• (c) 31 January 2025

• (d) 1 February 2026

Q3. Which country's President was captured by US forces in Caracas in an operation in January 2026?

• (a) Venezuela

• (b) Nicaragua

• (c) Colombia

• (d) Cuba

Q4. Which of the following international bodies was reported to be among the 66 organisations the US announced it would leave on 7 January 2026?

• (a) World Trade Organization

• (b) G20

• (c) NATO

• (d) International Solar Alliance

Q5. The Board of Peace for Gaza was launched in January 2026 at

• (a) Sharm el-Sheikh

• (b) New York

• (c) Doha

• (d) Davos

Q6. The Chief Guests at India's 77th Republic Day were

• (a) The Chancellor of Germany

• (b) The President of France

• (c) The Prime Minister of Japan

• (d) The President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission

Q7. Consider the following statements about the India-EU free trade agreement (January 2026):
1. Negotiations were announced as concluded at the 16th India-EU Summit.
2. It has been ratified by the European Parliament.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) Neither 1 nor 2

• (b) 1 only

• (c) 2 only

• (d) Both 1 and 2

Q8. The PSLV-C62 mission of January 2026 carried which earth-observation satellite as its main payload?

• (a) RISAT-2B

• (b) Cartosat-3

• (c) NISAR

• (d) EOS-N1

Q9. Nipah virus is primarily transmitted to humans from

• (a) mosquitoes of the genus Aedes

• (b) ticks

• (c) fruit bats, directly or through contaminated food

• (d) migratory waterfowl

Q10. The Supreme Court stayed the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 by exercising its powers under

• (a) Article 142

• (b) Article 136

• (c) Article 32

• (d) Article 226

Q11. Under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, waste has to be segregated into how many streams?

• (a) Three

• (b) Two

• (c) Five

• (d) Four

Q12. The Padma Awards 2026 announced on 25 January had how many awardees in all?

• (a) 100

• (b) 150

• (c) 131

• (d) 139

Q13. In the Army Day 2026 celebrations, the 78th Army Day parade was held at

• (a) Bengaluru

• (b) Pune

• (c) Jaipur

• (d) Lucknow

Q14. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited India in January 2026. An outcome of the visit was a memorandum on

• (a) the Chabahar port

• (b) the National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal

• (c) a space station

• (d) a nuclear submarine

Q15. India's Ramsar site count rose to 98 in January 2026 with the addition of

• (a) Sundarbans and Bhitarkanika

• (b) Patna Bird Sanctuary (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand (Gujarat)

• (c) Loktak Lake and Chilika Lake

• (d) Kaziranga and Manas

Q16. Which of the following is a feature of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026?
1. Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility
2. Environmental compensation on the polluter-pays principle
3. A mandatory ban on all plastic carry bags

• (a) 1 and 2 only

• (b) 1 and 3 only

• (c) 1, 2 and 3

• (d) 2 and 3 only

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 significance of the India-EU free trade agreement for India's trade diversification, and the issues, such as CBAM, that remain to be resolved.

• Examine the constitutional questions raised by the Supreme Court's stay on the UGC equity regulations.

• Why do PSLV failures matter for India's space programme and its private launch ecosystem?

• Why did India not sign the Board of Peace charter, and what does this indicate about its approach to US-led initiatives?