NATIONAL AFFAIRS

MoF Launches ‘Paripoorna Mediclaim Ayush Bima’ for CGHS Beneficiaries

The Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has introduced ‘Paripoorna Mediclaim Ayush Bima’. This is an optional retail health insurance scheme designed specifically for Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) beneficiaries.

• Provider: Available for purchase through the New India Assurance Company Limited (NIACL).
• Affordability: Completely exempt from Goods and Services Tax (GST) on premiums to ensure maximum subscriber affordability.
• Co-payment & Discounts: Beneficiaries can select between a 70:30 or 50:50 co-payment split (Insurance Company : Subscriber). Choosing the 70:30 option secures a 28% discount, while the 50:50 split offers a 42% premium discount compared to standard regular policies.

Key Policy Metrics:

• Sum Insured: Choice of Rs 10 Lakhs or Rs 20 Lakhs.
• Family Cap: Covers a maximum of 6 members per policy.
• Medical Coverage: 100% coverage for AYUSH treatments. Modern medical procedures are covered up to 25% (extendable to 100% via optional riders).
• Limits & Buffer: Room rent capped at 1% for normal rooms and 2% for ICU per day. Includes 30 days pre-hospitalization and 60 days post-hospitalization coverage. Offers a 10% cumulative bonus for every claim-free year (up to 100%).

Foundation Laid for World’s Largest Green Hydrogen & Ammonia Project in Kakinada

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy CM Konidala Pawan Kalyan laid the foundation stone for the world's largest green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

• Developer: Developed by AM Green (a Greenko Group company), transforming an existing ammonia-urea complex into a clean energy facility.
• Investment & Area: Estimated at USD 10 billion (Rs 84,000 crore), spanning over 495 acres.
• Production Goal: Total capacity of 1.5 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) of green ammonia, to be rolled out in three distinct phases:
  • Phase 1: 0.5 MTPA by 2027
  • Phase 2: 1.0 MTPA by 2028
  • Phase 3: 1.5 MTPA by 2030
• Infrastructure Support: Backed by 7.5 GW of solar and wind energy, 1,950 MW of electrolyser capacity, and 2 GW of round-the-clock renewable power linked with the Pinnapuram pumped hydro storage project.

Global Significance: This mega-facility will drive India's first-ever exports of green ammonia, targeting key international green energy markets like Germany, Japan, and Singapore.

GeM Marks 7th Anniversary of the ‘Womaniya Initiative’

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) celebrated 7 years of its flagship ‘Womaniya Initiative’, which was launched on January 14, 2019. The program aims to boost the scale of women-led Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in public procurement.

• The Milestone: Over 2 lakh women-led MSEs are currently registered on GeM, securing public procurement orders crossing Rs 80,000 crore.
• Exceeding Targets: This milestone represents 4.7% of GeM's total order value, successfully surpassing the government-mandated 3% public procurement target for women-owned enterprises.
• Strategic Alliance: GeM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Women’s Collective Forum (WCF) to ease onboarding, compliance training, and digital product listing for women entrepreneurs.

NITI Aayog Framework for Convergence in the MSME Sector

NITI Aayog has released a strategic report titled "Achieving Efficiencies in MSME Sector through Convergence of Schemes". Launched by Member Dr. Arvind Virmani and CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, it addresses the existing fragmentation under the Ministry of MSME, which currently operates 18 distinct schemes with overlapping goals.

The Proposed Dual-Convergence Model:

1. Information Convergence: Integrating central and state government data portals to improve decision-making and tracking.
2. Process Convergence: Merging identical schemes, combining core components, and promoting inter-ministerial collaboration to eradicate resource duplication.

Quick National Bulletins:

• IICA Post Graduate Insolvency Programme (PGIP): The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) opened registrations for its 8th batch of PGIP. Simultaneously, IICA signed an MoU with IIIPI-ICAI to advance insolvency training. The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) will serve as the official examination partner.
• Composite Salary Account Package: The Department of Financial Services (DFS) launched a standardized salary account benefit package with Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for Central Government Employees in Groups A, B, and C (excluding Group D). Benefits include zero-balance accounts, air accident cover up to Rs 2 crore, personal/disability insurance up to Rs 1.5 crore, and Rs 20 lakh term life cover.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

6th ASEAN–India Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN)

Virtually hosted by Vietnam, the 6th ADGMIN meeting concluded under the theme “Adaptive ASEAN: From Connectivity to Connected Intelligence.” The forum was co-chaired by India's Telecom Secretary Amit Agrawal and Vietnam's Nguyen Manh Hung.

• Key Approvals: Endorsed the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2026–2030 and approved the 2026 Digital Work Plan focusing on ICT training, telecom solutions, and a Regulators' Conference.
• Hanoi Declaration: Adopted a joint declaration prioritizing regional security and cooperation across Artificial Intelligence (AI), broadband infrastructure, and digital inclusion.
• Fund Allocation: Officially operationalized the India-ASEAN Fund to finance digital transformation projects across member states.

India and Israel Partner for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

India and Israel signed a strategic Joint Ministerial Declaration of Intent to deepen ties in the aquaculture sector. The pact was inked at Eilat, Israel, during the 2nd Global Summit on "Blue Food Security: Sea the Future 2026", attended by Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh.

• Key Element: Jointly exploring the deployment of new Indo–Israel Centres of Excellence (CoE) for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
• Technology Sharing: Focuses on advanced Israeli water-saving tech and intensive fish farming techniques including Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), biofloc, aquaponics, and pathogen-free seed/broodstock breeding.

BANKING & FINANCE

Piramal Finance Secures USD 350 Million in Multilateral Funding

Piramal Finance Limited marked its debut DFI (Development Finance Institution) borrowing by securing USD 350 million under its Sustainable Finance Framework.

• The Backing: Comprises USD 200 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and USD 150 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• Deployment: The 5-year tenor funds will be used to expand credit to MSMEs, affordable housing, and women borrowers across Tier 2, Tier 3, and rural sectors.

RBI Revises Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) 2026

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the RB-IOS 2026, a streamlined grievance redressal system that supersedes the older 2021 framework. It will formally come into effect on July 1, 2026.

• No Dispute Cap: No upper limit on the dispute value that can be brought before the RBI Ombudsman.
• Enhanced Compensations: The maximum award for consequential financial loss has been raised to Rs 30 Lakh (up from Rs 20 Lakh). Compensation for mental anguish, harassment, and lost time increased to Rs 3 Lakh (up from Rs 1 Lakh).
• Structure: Operates under a unified "One Nation, One Ombudsman" philosophy backed by central processing hubs called Centralised Receipt and Processing Centres (CRPC).

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Wikipedia Signs AI Training Monetization Accords with Tech Giants

The Wikimedia Foundation signed landmark, paid commercial partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity to celebrate Wikipedia's 25th anniversary.

• The Strategy: Shifts the tech ecosystem from free, unauthorized scraping of Wikipedia data to a formal licensing landscape.
• The System: These platforms will gain structured, high-speed API data access through Wikimedia Enterprise to train their Large Language Models (LLMs) and chatbots using Wikipedia’s repository of 65 million articles across 300+ languages.

SPORTS

Aaryan Varshney Crowned India’s 92nd Chess Grandmaster

21-year-old Aaryan Varshney from Delhi earned the elite Chess Grandmaster (GM) title after securing his third and final GM norm at the 16th Andranik Margaryan Memorial tournament in Armenia.

• The Path: He secured a draw against FM Tyhran Ambartsumian in the 8th round, finishing with 6.5 points out of 8.
• Regional Pride: Varshney is the 8th Grandmaster to emerge from Delhi, joining the ranks of players like Parimarjan Negi and Abhijeet Gupta. He previously achieved his FIDE Master (FM) title in 2018 and International Master (IM) in 2024.

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Startup Day – January 16, 2026

National Startup Day 2026 marks a monumental milestone: the completion of 10 years of the Startup India initiative (launched in 2016). Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed entrepreneurs at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, where the DPIIT announced two major rankings:

• National Startup Awards 5.0 (NSA 5.0): Recognized standout innovations across 20 distinct industrial and deep-tech categories spanning Tier-I to Tier-III cities.
• States’ Startup Ranking Framework 5.0 (SRF 5.0): Evaluated 34 States and UTs across 6 action areas to analyze on-ground institutional support and funding access.

STATE NEWS

Madhya Pradesh Partners with BHASHINI for Multilingual Governance

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) under MeitY signed an MoU with the Government of Madhya Pradesh at the Regional AI Impact Conference 2026 in Bhopal.

• Goal: Integrate BHASHINI's AI language translation APIs into MP's digital governance portals. The state will leverage voice-first applications to remove linguistic barriers, ensuring public services are accessible in multiple local Indian languages.

EXAM HINTS (Quick Revision Table)