Weekly Current Affairs Test : 15th to 21st January 2026

The Chadar trek on the frozen Zanskar River in Ladakh was postponed due to weak ice formation, disappointing adventure tourists. The Zanskar River is a major left-bank tributary of the Indus River and flows entirely within the Union Territory of Ladakh. It drains the remote and cold Zanskar Valley in the north-western Himalayas. The river originates at high Himalayan ranges from two main branches. One branch is the Doda River, rising near Pansi La Pass. The other branch forms from the Kargyag River near Shingo La and the Tsarap River near Baralacha La. It flows north-west and joins the Indus River near Nimmu at about 3,100 metres elevation.

A forest fire has been raging for five days in the Valley of Flowers, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, prompting Uttarakhand authorities to seek Indian Air Force (IAF) assistance. The Valley of Flowers National Park is located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand and covers about 87 square kilometres. It was discovered in 1931 by British mountaineers led by Frank S. Smythe. The park is a core zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve along with Nanda Devi National Park. It forms a transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayan ranges. The area is famous for alpine meadows, rich biodiversity, scenic beauty, and snow-covered Himalayan peaks.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Zycubo, a copper histidinate injection, as the first treatment for Menkes disease in children. Menkes disease is a rare genetic disorder that affects the body’s ability to process copper. It is caused by mutation of the ATP7A gene located on the X chromosome, affecting copper transport and balance. Copper is essential for metabolism, brain function, blood formation, immunity, wound healing, and iron use. The disease leads to low copper levels in blood, liver, and brain, reducing copper-dependent enzyme activity.

PRAGATI, the Prime Minister’s flagship platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, recently completed its 50th meeting. PRAGATI is an integrated and interactive system to resolve public grievances and monitor key Central and State Government projects. It promotes electronic transparency and electronic accountability through real-time interaction among stakeholders. The platform was launched on 25 March 2015. It was designed in-house by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with support from the National Informatics Centre (NIC). It enables the Prime Minister to directly review projects with live data and visual evidence. The platform integrates digital data management, video conferencing, and geospatial technology.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) launched the National Olympic Education and Development Programme (NOEDP) and reactivated the National Olympic Academy (NOA) to strengthen India’s Olympic movement. The decisions were approved in January meetings held in Ahmedabad. NOEDP is a national framework for structured Olympic education and development across all levels of sport. It will be implemented with National Sports Federations (NSFs) and State Olympic Associations (SOAs). The NOA will serve as the central institution for Olympic education, research, and athlete development. It will support athletes in education, leadership, values, and career transition.

The Delhi government stated that more than 6,500 monkeys rescued by civic bodies from residential and commercial areas were shifted to Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in the last five years. Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary covers about 32.71 square kilometres on the Southern Delhi Ridge of the Aravalli hill range along the Delhi–Haryana border. It extends across southern Delhi and parts of Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana. The sanctuary is part of the Northern Aravalli Leopard Wildlife Corridor.

A fire, reportedly due to a short circuit, destroyed at least 38 thatched houses of the Konda Reddi tribe in Sarlanka village, Prathipadu Mandal, Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh. Konda Reddis are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) living along both banks of the Godavari River in hilly and forest areas of East Godavari, West Godavari, and Khammam districts of Andhra Pradesh. Their language is Telugu spoken in a pure, unique accent. They follow Folk Hinduism with local deity worship.

Karnataka Bank won the Best Fintech & DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) Adoption award at the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) Banking Technology Awards. It was adjudged runner-up in Best Tech Talent category. The bank also received Special Mention for Best Technology Bank, Best Digital Financial Inclusion, and Best Digital Sales. The recognition highlights the bank’s focus on digital innovation, technology talent, and customer-centric banking solutions. Karnataka Bank reaffirmed its commitment to expanding digital capabilities to meet evolving customer needs.

The Global Risk Report 2026 was released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It identifies geoeconomic confrontation as the most significant global risk. In the short term (2026–2028), key risks include geoeconomic confrontation, state-based armed conflicts, extreme weather events, and rising societal polarisation. In the long term (up to 2036), major risks are extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem collapse. India faces major risks like cyber insecurity, inequality, and weak public services. Geoeconomic confrontation means using trade, technology, sanctions, and investment controls for strategic advantage.

The Miyawaki method is increasingly used in cities where green cover has declined over decades, and it is often seen in recent urban greening drives. It is an afforestation technique developed in the 1970s by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. Trees and shrubs are planted very close together, also called the pot plantation method. Only native species are planted, creating a resilient and balanced ecosystem. Forests grow nearly 10 times faster and become very dense with high biodiversity. Recent municipal projects have used this method to convert polluted and barren urban land into green spaces, reducing pollution, improving soil, and enhancing ecological balance.

The latest crocodile census shows an increase in crocodile population in Similipal National Park of Odisha, highlighting successful wildlife conservation. Similipal National Park is located in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha and covers about 2,750 square kilometres. The park is named after the Simul or silk cotton tree found in large numbers. It is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere Reserve, and part of the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve.

Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab showcased the RBS-15 missile’s ability to destroy parts of the Russian S-400 air defence system. RBS-15 stands for Robotsystem-15 and is a fire-and-forget anti-ship missile with land-attack capability. It is a surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missile developed by Saab Bofors Dynamics of Sweden. The missile is 4.35 metres long, weighs about 800 kilograms at launch, and flies at subsonic speed of Mach 0.9. It has a range of about 200 kilometres with a 200 kilogram high-explosive warhead. It flies low over the sea, performs evasive manoeuvres, and has low radar and infrared signatures.

The Finke River, called Larapinta by the Arrernte people, is believed to be the world’s oldest river system. It is a major but intermittent river located in central Australia. The river originates in the MacDonnell Ranges of the Northern Territory. It forms from the meeting of Davenport Creek and Ormiston Creek. The river flows for about 600 kilometres towards the Simpson Desert in South Australia. Geological evidence dates the river to the Devonian or Carboniferous period, around 300–400 million years ago. For most of the year, it appears as scattered waterholes but becomes fast-flowing after heavy rains.

Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1977 to explore the outer planets. Recent news highlights that Voyager 1 is expected to become the first human-made object to reach a distance of one light-day from Earth. One light-day means the distance light travels in 24 hours, showing how far the spacecraft has gone. Voyager 1 is already the most distant human-made object and is travelling through interstellar space. It crossed the heliosphere and entered interstellar space in August 2012. Its mission earlier included flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, studying their moons, rings, and magnetic fields.

Tamil Nadu government signed an agreement with Sarvam AI to set up India’s first full-stack Sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) Park. The project has an initial investment of ₹10,000 crore and is expected to create over 1,000 high-skilled jobs. The park will function as a dedicated AI district with high-performance computing, secure data systems, and AI research labs. It will keep data, models, and computing within the state’s trust boundary to ensure ethics, security, and regulation. Sarvam AI, an Indian generative AI company, will anchor the technology stack and support India-language models.

Indian scientists discovered a rare subterranean amphibian species named Gegeneophis valmiki in the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. The species is named after Maharshi Valmiki Mandir located near the discovery site. It belongs to the genus Gegeneophis, commonly known as blind caecilians. Caecilians are limbless, worm-like amphibians that live underground with eyes hidden under skin and bone. They do not croak like frogs, making field identification very difficult. The Western Ghats host 26 endemic caecilians, and this is the first Gegeneophis discovery in over a decade.

Southbound ship traffic will resume in Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait after a tanker recently had engine failure. The Dardanelles Strait is a narrow but very important waterway in northwestern Turkey. It links the Aegean Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea) to the Sea of Marmara. It separates Asia (east) from Europe (west). It is named after the ancient city of Dardanus, it was once called Hellespont, meaning “Helle’s sea”.

Recently, the CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative trained over 1.90 lakh individuals through more than 5,200 skill-based programmes. It is a flagship national programme of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It aims to bridge the gap between scientific research, industry needs, and employable skills. The initiative integrates skill development with science and technology using CSIR’s research infrastructure. It offers inclusive access to students, researchers, professionals, school dropouts, ITI diploma holders, farmers, and rural communities.

Recently, researchers at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bengaluru, developed a deep-learning tool called Disobind. Disobind predicts how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) bind to their partner proteins. Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) are shapeshifting proteins without fixed structure, crucial for cell signalling, gene regulation, and protein movement. Their flexibility makes them hard to study using traditional structural biology methods. Disobind uses protein language models trained on millions of protein sequences.

Recently, phytoplasma-induced root wilt disease has severely damaged traditional coconut-growing areas in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. It is caused by phytoplasma bacteria and is one of the most devastating coconut palm diseases. It was first identified over 150 years ago in Erattupetta, Kerala, it is classified as a non-fatal disease. The disease does not kill palms but drastically reduces their productivity. It spreads through insect vectors, wind movement, and continuous coconut plantations. Spread is faster in sandy, sandy loam, and alluvial soils and is worsened by erratic temperatures and whitefly pests.

A Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreak has been reported in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh, with two deaths in Manasa town. Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system is the network of nerves outside the brain and spinal cord that controls movement, pain, and sensations. Since the immune system causes the damage, it is an autoimmune disease, also called acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.

A new hedgehog species, Brandt’s hedgehog, has been discovered for the first time in India in Jammu and Kashmir through Deoxyribonucleic Acid analysis and morphological studies. Brandt’s hedgehog is a desert hedgehog scientifically known as Paraechinus hypomelas. It is native to the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. The species lives in arid and semi-arid habitats such as rocky deserts, scrublands, and dry mountain slopes. It is listed as Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.

Recently, the Chips to Start-up Programme has shown measurable success in skill building, infrastructure access, and practical chip design support. It is an umbrella capacity-building initiative launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2022. The programme has a total outlay of ₹250 crore for five years. It aims to develop 85,000 industry-ready professionals and incubate 25 start-ups with 10 technology transfers. It provides access to Shared Modular Technology laboratories, advanced Electronic Design Automation tools, and semiconductor foundries.

Recently, Indian Coast Guard Ship Sankalp visited Port Louis in Mauritius as part of overseas deployment in the Indian Ocean Region. It is the fifth Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel of the Indian Coast Guard, commissioned in 2008. The ship is indigenously built by Goa Shipyard Limited. It is designed for maritime surveillance, Exclusive Economic Zone protection, search and rescue, and law enforcement. The vessel is 105 metres long with an endurance of 6,500 nautical miles and a displacement of about 2,325 tonnes. It has advanced navigation and communication systems and can operate Advanced Light Helicopter and Chetak helicopters.

Recently, two new safari gates were inaugurated at the Bor Tiger Project in Maharashtra. Bor Tiger Reserve is located in the Wardha district of Maharashtra. It is the smallest tiger reserve in India in terms of area. The reserve covers about 138.12 square kilometres, including the drainage basin of the Bor Dam. It holds strategic importance as it is centrally located among major Bengal tiger habitats.

A new species of ginger named Parakaempferia alba has been discovered in the Siang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh. It belongs to the Zingiberaceae, which is the ginger family of flowering plants. The species was found in the Miglung area of East Siang District. It grows at an altitude ranging from 150 to 400 metres above sea level. The plant thrives along shaded streambanks. It prefers humid conditions with sandy soil, which support its growth. This discovery highlights the rich plant biodiversity of the Eastern Himalayan region.

Around 20,000 people in Palghar district protested against the Vadhavan Port project due to environmental concerns. Vadhavan Port is a proposed all-weather greenfield deep-draft major port in Palghar district, about 140 kilometres north of Mumbai, Maharashtra. The port has a natural depth of 20 metres, suitable for large container and bulk cargo ships. It is being developed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and Maharashtra Maritime Board. The total project cost is ₹76,220 crore and it is planned to be completed by 2034.

China has revealed a major upgrade in its undersea nuclear strength with the Type 096 Tang-Class submarine. It is a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) designed and built by China for strategic nuclear deterrence. The submarine is larger and stealthier, with a submerged displacement of about 20,000 tonnes, similar to United States Ohio-class submarines. It uses advanced noise-reduction technologies to reduce detection by enemy forces.

A drone-based survey by the Odisha Forest and Environment Department shows that the saltwater crocodile population is increasing. The saltwater crocodile is the largest and heaviest living reptile and is also known as the estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile. It lives in saltwater, brackish wetlands, rivers, and mangroves. The species is found along India’s east coast, Southeast Asia, northern Australia, and Micronesia. In India, it occurs in Odisha, West Bengal, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with Odisha having the highest population in natural habitat. It is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Indian Navy’s Sail Training Ship INS Sudarshini will undertake Lokayan 26, a 10-month transoceanic flagship expedition. INS Sudarshini is an indigenously built Sail Training Ship (STS) of the Indian Navy. It was constructed by Goa Shipyard Limited and is based at Kochi, Kerala, under the Southern Naval Command. The ship was commissioned on 27 January 2012. Such ships train sailors to survive independently at sea, handle rough weather, and develop core seamanship skills. INS Sudarshini is a three-masted barque capable of operating under sail or engine power.