Current Affairs – January 20, 2026

{GS2 – Polity} Rapid Expansion of India’s Cooperative Sector **

• Context (NIE): India’s cooperative sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, becoming one of the world’s largest organised economic networks.

Status of Cooperative Societies in India

• Total Count: The National Cooperative Database records over 8.5 lakh registered cooperative societies, accounting for nearly 27% of all cooperative societies worldwide.
• Operational Share: About 6.6 lakh, roughly three-fourths of registered societies, are fully functional.
• Membership Base: Cooperative membership is close to 32 crores, spanning 30 sectors and covering 98% of rural India.
• Women’s Inclusion: About 10 crore women are integrated into cooperatives, largely through self-help groups (SHGs).
• State Leader: Maharashtra leads with over 2.21 lakh cooperatives and around 5.8 crore members.

Significance of Cooperative Societies in India

• Financial Inclusion: Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) provide last-mile credit, accounting for about 15% of agricultural lending.
• Input Security: National cooperatives like IFFCO and KRIBHCO supply one-third of India’s fertilisers.
• Value Addition: Cooperatives process over 30% of India’s sugar and market a major share of India’s milk output.
• Price Realisation: The cooperative model reduces the number of intermediaries, allowing producers to retain a higher share of consumer prices.
• Job Creation: The sector generates significant non-farm livelihoods, accounting for over 13% of direct employment.
• Inclusive Growth: Cooperatives democratise rural economic participation by integrating women and marginal farmers into formal finance.

Read More> Cooperative Societies in India

{GS2 – Social Sector} Student Suicide Safeguards

• Context (SCO | LL): In Amit Kumar v Union of India, the SC flagged a rising pattern of student suicides in Higher Education Institutions & has issued interim directions based on a National Task Force report.

Drivers of Rising Student Suicides

• System Expansion: Rapid “massification” and NEP targets 50% GER by 2035, increased enrolment faster than support systems, raising pressure on counselling and grievance systems.
• Service Deficit: Around 65% surveyed institutes reported no Mental Health Service Providers, and 73% reported no full-time providers, indicating weak on-campus support capacity.
• Inequality Stressors: Marginalised groups face layered stress from discrimination, disability access gaps, and language barriers, making entry into HEIs insufficient without real on-campus support.
• Academic Pressure: Rigid attendance, heavy workload, faculty shortages, non-transparent placements, and research-supervisor frictions create chronic stress and weaken peer bonding.
• Ragging Harm: Ragging persists in some campuses as “normalised bonding”.

Key Directives by the Supreme Court

• Mandatory FIR: Any suicide incident triggering a cognisable offence must lead to an FIR, reinforcing the institution’s legal duty beyond “internal committees” and optics.
• Annual Reporting: HEIs must submit annual suicide/unnatural death reports to regulators, including the University Grants Commission and professional councils where applicable.
• Vacancy Timelines: Teaching/non-teaching vacancies must be filled within 4 months, with priority to reserved posts for marginalised groups and persons with disabilities.
• Admin Continuity: Vice-Chancellors/Registrars and key posts must be filled within 4 months, and ideally within 1 month of vacancy to prevent governance drift.
• Scholarship Protection: Scholarship backlogs must clear within 4 months by governments, and students cannot be barred from classes/exams due to disbursal delays.
• Compliance Notice: HEIs were put on strict notice for compliance with binding regulations, including anti-ragging, equity, sexual harassment, and grievance redress systems.

{GS2 – IR} UAE President’s Official Visit to India **

• Context (TH): President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), concluded an official visit to New Delhi.

Key Outcomes of the Visit

• Trade Target: The leaders agreed to double India-UAE bilateral trade to USD 200 billion by 2032.
• LNG Supply: HPCL signed a 10-year deal with ADNOC Gas to import 0.5 MMTPA of LNG from 2028.
• Industrial Investment: The UAE is committed to large-scale investments in the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) in Gujarat.
• Computing Collaboration: C-DAC and G42 will jointly set up a supercomputing cluster in India.
• Defence Framework: India and the UAE signed a Letter of Intent to establish a Strategic Defence Partnership for defence manufacturing and interoperability.
• Space Partnership: IN-SPACe and the UAE Space Agency plan to jointly develop launch infrastructure and satellite facilities.

Overview of India-UAE Bilateral Relations

• Strategic Upgrade: India-UAE ties were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2017.
• Economic Frameworks: The countries operationalised the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022 and signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty in 2024.
• Trade Position: The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner and second-largest export destination, with bilateral trade exceeding $100 billion in FY 2024-25.
• Digital Payments: India’s UPI is integrated with the UAE’s AANI platform, and RuPay cards are linked to the JAYWAN network.
• Energy Supplies: The UAE is India’s fourth-largest crude oil supplier and the second-largest supplier of LNG and LPG.
• Strategic Reserves: The UAE is the first foreign partner to invest in India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Mangalore.
• Military Exercises: Regular joint exercises include Desert Cyclone (Army), Zayed Talwar (Navy), and Desert Flag (Air Force).
• Regional Connectivity: Both countries are founding partners of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) to strengthen inter-regional connectivity.
• Indian Diaspora: About 3.5 million Indians live in the UAE, forming its largest expatriate group and contributing nearly 20% of India’s remittances.
• Minilateral Grouping: India and the UAE are key members of the I2U2 Group, focusing on joint investments in water, energy, and food security.

{GS2 – IR} Small Tables Diplomacy for India in 2026 **

• Context (TH): Republic Day 2026 chief guests will be European Union (EU) institutional leadership, signalling a shift from single-country symbolism to bloc-level engagement.

• In 2026, big forums face paralysis; India’s openings lie in “diplomatic white spaces” where leadership gaps exist, and coalitions can deliver.

Why Big Forums are Straining?

• Consensus Burden: Large memberships mean lowest-common-denominator outcomes; strong decisions get diluted into vague statements, especially in the United Nations (UN).
• Domestic Politics Spillover: G20 agendas increasingly reflect domestic contestations, blocking continuity and reducing global coordination capacity.
• Agenda Polarisation: Competing narratives (Ukraine, trade wars, tech controls) crowd out Global South priorities, weakening legitimacy and inclusiveness.

Significance of Small Tables Diplomacy for India

• Faster Outcomes: Smaller coalitions avoid consensus paralysis, allowing India to push time-bound deliverables instead of vague declarations.
• Rule-Shaping Space: India can influence standards, norms, and governance rules (AI, digital, climate, supply chains) before they get locked by major powers.
• Global Leadership Gap: In “white spaces” where no power can convene credibly, India can act as a trusted bridge-builder between North and South.
• Economic Payoff: Coalitions with EU/Japan/ASEAN can diversify markets and value chains, helping India de-risk trade, tech, and investment flows.
• Coalition of the Willing: India can build aligned groups on specific priorities (critical minerals, clean energy, semiconductors), ensuring implementation is bigger than symbolism.

India’s Small Tables Diplomacy in 2026

India–EU Engagement

• FTA Beyond Tariffs: India–EU Free Trade Agreement will shape market access via data rules, competition norms, and green standards, not just customs duties.
• Standards Pressure: EU sustainability rules (CBAM) can increase the burden on export-heavy sectors like textiles, chemicals, and auto components.
• Window Timing: EU wants to cut dependence on China and hedge US unpredictability; Delhi must act fast before political-economic priorities shift.

India and BRICS

• India’s Chair Opportunity: India can push BRICS toward execution using New Development Bank (NDB) guarantees & practical toolkits to convert communiqués into projects.
• Diluted Cohesion: BRICS expansion increases reach but reduces clarity as members pursue different goals, making consensus and delivery harder.
• Signalling Risk: Turning BRICS into anti-West rhetoric or de-dollarisation posturing can trigger US tariff retaliation, hurting India’s capital, tech, and trade goals.

India and Quad

• Core Deliverables: Focus on maritime domain awareness, resilient ports, cyber resilience, disaster response, where capacity gaps are high.
• India’s Advantage: India can offer rapid-retaskable HADR capabilities (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) that build trust without diplomatic drama.
• US Factor: Trade frictions involving Washington can spill into Quad cohesion, so delivery needs issue separation of trade and security.

{GS3 – IE} NITI Aayog Initiative on MSME Scheme Convergence

• Context (PIB | NOA): NITI Aayog released a roadmap on converging MSME schemes to reduce duplication, improve outreach, and strengthen delivery of credit, innovation and infrastructure support.

Why Convergence is Needed?

• Scheme Fragmentation: The Ministry of MSME runs 18 schemes across credit, skill, marketing, innovation and infrastructure, but overlaps across ministries create duplicated benefits.
• Low Awareness Reach: Even with large public spending, multiple schemes with different entry points reduce discoverability, so eligible MSMEs fail to access support.
• High Compliance Load: Separate documentation, verification and reporting for similar benefits raises transaction costs for small firms and creates time-loss.
• Data Silos: Without shared beneficiary databases, scheme monitoring becomes fragmented and outcome tracking weak, causing leakages and mis-targeting in delivery

Key Recommendations by Niti Aayog

Centralised MSME Portal

• Unified Platform: Build an AI-enabled portal integrating schemes in one digital window.
• Smart Support: Use AI chatbots, dashboards and mobile access to give real-time guidance.

Cluster Scheme Integration

• SFURTI Merger: Integrate Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) with Micro and Small Enterprises –Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) for scale efficiency.
• Traditional Sub-Scheme: Create a dedicated traditional industries sub-window with earmarked support.

Skill Programme Rationalisation

• Three-Tier Model: Restructure skills into (i) entrepreneurship/business skills, (ii) MSME technical skills and (iii) rural/women artisan training.
• Overlap Removal: Merge similar training schemes while retaining targeted elements for inclusion.

Marketing Assistance Wing

• Domestic Component: Support MSMEs through exhibitions and structured market linkage platforms.
• Global Component: Enable export access through curated international buyer connections.

Innovation Scheme Integration

• ASPIRE Linkage: Integrate A Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry & Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE) into MSME Innovative as a special agro-rural category.
• Budget Ring-Fencing: Continue existing ASPIRE funds while earmarking future innovation budgets.

Safeguards Suggested

• Targeted Schemes Protected: Preserve dedicated programmes like National SC/ST Hub and Promotion of MSMEs in North Eastern Region (NER).
• Flagships Standalone: Keep large scale schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and PM Vishwakarma independent due to size and strategic role.

{Prelims – A&C} Bagurumba Dwhou 2026

• Context (PIB): PM Modi attended Bagurumba Dwhou 2026 and laid the foundation stone for the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project in Assam.

About Bagurumba Dwhou

• Bagurumba Dwhou was a historic mass cultural event showcasing the traditional Bagurumba dance of the Bodo community. The word Dwhou means “wave” in Bodo.
• Bagurumba is also known as the “Butterfly Dance” for its graceful, flowing movements that mimic butterflies, birds, and swaying trees.
• Inspired by nature, the dance symbolises peace, fertility, joy, and collective harmony between humans and the natural world.
• Traditionally, Bodo women perform it while men provide musical accompaniment at festivals like Bwisagu (Bodo New Year) and Domasi.
• Attire: Handwoven Bodo garments like the Dokhona, Jwmgra or Fasra scarf, and Aronai stole.
• Musical Instruments: Sifung (flute), Kham (drum), Serja (violin-like), and Tharkha (bamboo clapper).

About Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project

• It is a major environmentally conscious highway project in Assam, aimed at ensuring the safe movement of wildlife and improving regional connectivity.
• The project is part of National Highway 715 (formerly NH-37), connecting Kaliabor and Numaligarh.
• Key Feature: A 35 km elevated stretch that will pass through Kaziranga National Park, allowing animals to move freely beneath.

{Prelims – Infra} Parakaempferia alba *

• Context (NET): Scientists have discovered Parakaempferia alba, a new ginger species, in the Siang Valley region of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Taxonomic Family: It is a herbaceous plant species belonging to the ginger family Zingiberaceae.
• Habitat Preference: The species thrives in the moist, shaded undergrowth of tropical semi-evergreen forests with limited direct sunlight.
• Environment: It typically grows at elevations of 150-400 metres, preferring humid, sandy soils along shaded streambanks.
• Ecological Role: The plant acts as a ground-level stabiliser in riparian zones, reducing soil erosion through its root system.

{Prelims – Infra} Protest Against Vadhavan Port

• Context (IE): Thousands of people held a major protest march against the construction of the Vadhavan Port project in Maharashtra.

• Key Concerns: Livelihood loss of fisherfolk, farmers, and Adivasi communities, and ecological damage to the Dahanu Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ).

About Vadhavan Port

• It is an all-weather, deep-draft, major greenfield port under construction in Palghar district, around 150 km north of Mumbai.
• It is India’s first offshore port, planned on an artificial island created through land reclamation.
• It is being developed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL), a joint venture between the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (74%) and the Maharashtra Maritime Board (26%).
• Operational Model: The port follows the Landlord Model, where the port authority owns land and core infrastructure, while private players manage terminals and operations.
• Key Feature: The port has a natural draft of 20 metres, allowing it to accommodate large container ships without extensive capital dredging.
• Connectivity: The port will connect to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Mumbai–Vadodara Expressway.
• Strategic Role: It serves as a vital gateway for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

{Prelims – S&T} New Solid–Liquid Hybrid State of Matter Discovered *

• Context (TH): Researchers from Germany and the UK recently reported the discovery of a hybrid solid–liquid state of matter.

• This state occurs at the nanoscale, where matter exhibits both solid and liquid properties.
• Applications: It could lead to more efficient, sustainable catalysts, especially platinum-on-carbon catalysts used in fuel cells, hydrogen vehicles, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemicals.

Key Features of the New State

• Atomic Coexistence: Within a single nanoparticle, some atoms remain stationary while others flow freely like a liquid.
• Atomic Corralling: Stationary atoms form a rigid atomic ‘fence’ or ‘corral’ that confines and controls the motion of mobile atoms.
• Extreme Supercooling: Atomic confinement allows metals like platinum to remain liquid at around 350°C, far below normal freezing points.
• Unstable Solidification: The liquid solidifies into a highly unstable amorphous glass-like solid that reverts to a crystal when the atomic “corral” is broken.

{Prelims – S&T} NASA’s Artemis II Mission *

• Context (DDN): NASA will soon launch the Artemis II mission, which will fly four astronauts around the Moon and return them to Earth.

• Artemis II is the first crewed Artemis mission, returning humans to the lunar vicinity since Apollo 17.
• It will conduct a lunar flyby without landing, carrying the first woman and the first person of colour.
• International Partners: NASA has partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
• Launch Vehicle: The mission will launch aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV).
• Trajectory: Orion will use a free-return trajectory, looping around the Moon’s far side and returning to Earth under natural gravity.
• Distance & Altitude: Astronauts will fly 7,400 km above the Moon and almost 400,000 km from Earth—the farthest humans have ever travelled.
• Significance: The mission will test the Orion spacecraft’s deep-space exploration systems under realistic conditions for the Artemis III lunar landing.

Read More > NASA’s Artemis Mission

{Prelims – Diseases} Coconut Root Wilt Disease

• Context (TH): Coconut Root Wilt Disease (RWD) is threatening coconut cultivation in the traditional growing belts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.

• Coconut Root Wilt Disease or Kerala Wilt is a debilitating but non-fatal disease of coconut palms.
• Causal Agent: It is caused by phytoplasma, a phloem-limited, cell-wall-less prokaryotic organism.
• Vectors: It spreads mainly through insect vectors such as the lacewing bug and the plant hopper.
• Environmental Drivers: Disease spread accelerates due to wind, continuous coconut plantations, and rising temperatures.
• Key Symptoms: Leaflets lose stiffness and curve inward; in advanced stages, they develop marginal necrosis and extensive root system decay.
• Yield Impact: Premature nut fall, smaller size, and reduced oil cause 35% to 80% yield loss.

Research and Management Efforts

• Integrated Management: Control relies on Integrated Disease Management (IDM), including field sanitation, green manuring, vector control, and resistant varieties such as Kalpasree and Kalpa Raksha.
• Participatory Management: Farmer-led identification and breeding of tolerant ‘mother palms’ from infected zones and local nurseries for mass multiplication to replace felled palms.
  • Research recorded yield increases of up to 91.2% in community-managed plots.
• Climate Resilience: In Pollachi, farmers use participatory climate sensors to monitor thermal stress affecting coconut-based intercropping systems.

{Prelims – Defence} INS Sudarshini

• Context (PIB): INS Sudarshini has embarked on Lokayan 26, a 10-month transoceanic expedition.

• It will participate in international tall-ship events, Escale à Sète in France and SAIL 250 in New York City.
• INS Sudarshini is an indigenous three-masted sail training ship of the Indian Navy.
• It is a sister ship of INS Tarangini, commissioned in 2012.
• It was built by Goa Shipyard Limited and is based at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi.
• Strategic Role: INS Sudarshini provides sail training and serves as a ‘floating ambassador’, advancing the MAHASAGAR vision for regional security and growth.