22 January 2026

• Economy: India's current account deficit (CAD) narrows to 1.0% of GDP in Q2 FY26; record services exports offset merchandise deficit.
• Science: ISRO successfully tests liquid oxygen-methane engine (CE-20 variant) for Gaganyaan service module.
• Governance: 22 January marks Ram Mandir consecration anniversary (Pran Pratishtha 2024).
• International: UN Security Council discusses Sudan conflict; 10 million internally displaced, largest global IDP crisis.
• Agriculture: India's banana export record: 2.1 million tonnes exported in FY25, highest in history.

GS area: Economy

India's Current Account Deficit narrowed to approximately 1.0% of GDP in Q2 FY26 (July-September 2025).

• CAD definition: When a country imports more goods and services than it exports, it runs a CAD. India chronically runs a CAD because it imports crude oil (largest item), coal and electronic goods.
• Q2 FY26 figures: Merchandise trade deficit: approximately 70 billion USD. Services surplus: approximately 40 billion USD. Net transfers (remittances): approximately 25 billion USD. Overall CAD: approximately 14 billion USD (1.0% of GDP).
• Services exports driving improvement: IT services, business process management, financial services and travel spending by foreigners in India.
• Remittances: India receives the world's highest remittances (125 billion USD in 2025). This is a key current account support.
• FY26 full-year projection: CAD expected at 1.2 to 1.5% of GDP, well within safe zone (generally less than 3% considered manageable).
• Financing: CAD is financed by capital account inflows (FDI, FPI, ECB). If capital flows reverse, the rupee faces depreciation pressure.

Static linkage: Balance of payments, India's trade.

GS area: Science and Technology

ISRO successfully tested a liquid oxygen-methane (LOX-Methane) engine variant during Gaganyaan programme development activities.

• Significance: This engine technology is relevant for future reusable launch vehicles and deeper space missions (not for the first Gaganyaan crew capsule, which uses older technology).
• Gaganyaan programme status:
  • LVM3-G1 (uncrewed test): Successful.
  • Next milestone: Second uncrewed test with "Vyommitra" (humanoid robot) aboard.
  • Crewed launch: Targeted for first half 2027.
• LOX-Methane advantages: Methane-fuelled engines are cleaner burning (less coking), easier to store and theoretically capable of being produced on Mars. Used by SpaceX Raptor engine and Rocket Lab Rutherford.
• Crew module details: 6 cubic metre pressurised volume; carries 3 crew. Splashdown recovery in Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast.

Static linkage: ISRO, Gaganyaan, space technology.

GS area: International Relations

The UN Security Council discussed Sudan's crisis, which has displaced 10 million people, the largest internal displacement crisis globally.

• Conflict parties: Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) versus the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group.
• Origin of RSF: Evolved from the Janjaweed militia used during the Darfur conflict (2003-2008).
• Trigger: April 2023; following a disagreement over the timeline for integrating RSF into the Sudanese army.
• Scale: 10 million internally displaced; 1.8 million refugees in neighbouring Chad, Egypt and Ethiopia.
• Humanitarian impact: Famine declared in Zamzam camp, North Darfur, in August 2024. More than 25 million people face food insecurity.
• UN role: UNSC has discussed but not passed binding resolutions due to vetoes. UNOCHA coordinates humanitarian response.
• India's interest: Sudan has the Sudanese Indian community (NRI diaspora); India evacuated its nationals in Operation Kaveri (April 2023).

Static linkage: Sudan, conflict zones, UN peacekeeping.

GS area: Art and Culture, Governance

22 January 2024 was the date of the Pran Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony for the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

• Temple: Ram Mandir (dedicated to Lord Ram) at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
• Pran Pratishtha date: 22 January 2024.
• Location: At the site that had been disputed since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.
• Supreme Court verdict: In November 2019, the Supreme Court (Constitution Bench of 5 judges) awarded the disputed site to the Hindu side for building a temple and directed the government to give alternate 5-acre land for a mosque.
• Temple Trust: Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, established by the Central Government in February 2020.
• Architectural style: Nagara style, pink sandstone from Rajasthan, no steel or iron used in the main structure.
• Scale: 2.7-acre temple complex; main sanctum spire (shikhara) 161 feet high.

Static linkage: Constitutional law, Supreme Court verdicts, temple architecture.

GS area: Agriculture, Economy

India exported 2.1 million tonnes of bananas in FY25, a historic record.

• India's share: Largest banana producer globally (approximately 30% of world output: 34 million tonnes per year). But a small exporter historically due to domestic consumption.
• Export destinations: Iran, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. West Asia is the primary market.
• Varieties exported: Grand Nain (Cavendish group). Traded like a commodity on spot contracts.
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada equivalents for agriculture: APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) under Ministry of Commerce promotes banana exports.
• Disease threat: TR4 (Tropical Race 4) is a fungal pathogen threatening Cavendish bananas globally. India has quarantine restrictions against TR4-infected material.
• Leading producer states: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Static linkage: Agricultural exports, APEDA.

GS area: Economy, Governance

The ODOP scheme's 2026 review highlighted that 770 products from 761 districts are registered.

• Launch: August 2019 under Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
• Objective: Identify one product per district that has potential for exports or large-scale processing, and support clusters of producers.
• Products covered: Mustard oil (Rajasthan), Chikankari embroidery (Lucknow), Makhana (Bihar), Aonla (Uttar Pradesh), Bamboo (Assam), Lacquerware (Channapatna, Karnataka).
• Financial support: Under PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PM FME) scheme; credit-linked subsidy of 35% on project cost.
• Export focus: ODOP products are tagged as GI (Geographical Indication) products where applicable to add premium.
• Technology support: Common Facility Centres (CFCs) established to provide shared processing infrastructure.

Static linkage: MSME, food processing, GI tags.

GS area: Ancient History, Culture

New genetic and archaeological studies re-examined the question of Bronze Age migrations into South Asia.

• Steppe ancestry evidence: Studies confirm that approximately 15 to 30% of the genetic ancestry of North Indians is derived from Bronze Age steppe populations, who are associated with the spread of the Indo-European language family.
• Harappan genetic component: The largest genetic ancestor of most South Asians is the Harappan or AASI (Ancient Ancestral South Indian) population.
• Current scholarly position: Migration from the steppe (corresponding to the Yamnaya culture of Central Eurasia) into South Asia occurred in multiple waves between 2000 and 1500 BCE. This correlates with the transition from Harappan to Vedic material culture but does not prove a violent conquest.
• India's official stance: ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) emphasises continuity of Harappan culture and indigenous development of Vedic tradition.

Static linkage: Indian prehistory, Harappan civilisation, ancient migrations.

• Methanol economy mission: India targets 20% blending of methanol in petrol and 100% methanol in two-wheelers by 2030. Methanol can be made from coal or biomass. NITI Aayog Methanol Economy Programme.
• Pokkali rice GI: Pokkali rice of Kerala (grown in saline coastal fields; tolerant to salinity and flooding) was highlighted as a GI product with export potential. Grown in Ernakulam, Thrissur and Alappuzha districts.