January 2026 Current Affairs
50 important MCQs based on January 2026 Current Affairs. These cover national/international events, appointments, awards, science & technology, economy, important days, and more—useful for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railways, and State PCS.
Questions 1-10: National Affairs & Republic Day
- India celebrated its 77th Republic Day on 26 January 2026. Who were the joint Chief Guests at the event?
A) Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen
B) Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz
C) Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
D) Narendra Modi and Droupadi Murmu - The theme of India’s 77th Republic Day 2026 was related to:
A) 150 years of Vande Mataram
B) Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
C) Digital India
D) Atmanirbhar Bharat - Which state topped in generating APAAR IDs (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) with nearly 89% coverage in January 2026?
A) Maharashtra
B) Chhattisgarh
C) Uttar Pradesh
D) Tamil Nadu - Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand international exhibition of sacred relics of Lord Buddha in New Delhi on:
A) 1 January 2026
B) 3 January 2026
C) 15 January 2026
D) 26 January 2026 - BSNL announced the nationwide rollout of Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) service on New Year’s Day 2026. What is another name for this service?
A) 5G Calling
B) Wi-Fi Calling
C) Satellite Calling
D) VoLTE - The Government of India launched a nationwide cashless treatment scheme for road accident victims in January 2026.
A) True
B) False - Which High Court got its first woman Chief Justice in January 2026 (Justice Revati Mohite Dere)?
A) Uttarakhand
B) Meghalaya
C) Manipur
D) Tripura - Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (NRI Day) was observed on:
A) 9 January
B) 12 January
C) 15 January
D) 25 January - National Startup Day 2026 was celebrated on:
A) 12 January
B) 16 January
C) 26 January
D) 30 January - Indian Army Day is observed every year on:
A) 12 January
B) 15 January
C) 26 January
D) 30 January
Questions 11-20: Appointments & Awards
11. Who was appointed as the new Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in January 2026?
A) Rakesh Aggarwal
B) Praveen Kumar
C) Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor
D) Harpal Singh
12. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla was awarded the Ashok Chakra in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
13. The Padma Awards 2026 were announced on the eve of Republic Day. Posthumous Padma Vibhushan was awarded to actor Dharmendra and former Kerala CM V.S. Achuthanandan.
A) True
B) False
14. Who assumed charge as the 12th National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2026?
A) Nitin Nabin
B) J.P. Nadda
C) Amit Shah
D) Rajnath Singh
15. Lieutenant General Harpal Singh was appointed as the 29th Director General of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
A) True
B) False
16. Rabindra Kumar Agarwal was appointed as the new MD & CEO of Food Corporation of India (FCI).
A) True
B) False
17. Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta was appointed as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.
A) True
B) False
18. The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for 2025 was announced in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
(Note: Specific winner not highlighted in all sources, but announcement context exists)
19. Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor assumed charge as Vice Chief of Air Staff, IAF on 1 January 2026.
A) True
B) False
20. Who was appointed as Director General of ITBP in January 2026?
A) Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor
B) Praveen Kumar (BSF)
C) Rakesh Aggarwal (NIA)
D) None of the above
Questions 21-30: International Affairs
21. The United States officially withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement (for the second time) in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
22. US President Donald Trump formally established the “Board of Peace” for Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
23. Spain formally acceded to India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) on 21 January 2026.
A) True
B) False
24. India and the European Union (EU) concluded their long-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
25. India and Pakistan exchanged lists of nuclear installations under a bilateral agreement on 1 January 2026.
A) True
B) False
26. Bangladesh announced it would boycott the T20 World Cup in India (context of January 2026 news).
A) True
B) False
27. The first meeting of the SCO Council of National Coordinators for 2026 was held in Beijing.
A) True
B) False
28. A major phytoplankton bloom was observed near the Chatham Islands (east of New Zealand) in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
29. Google DeepMind unveiled AlphaGenome, an AI system for understanding DNA mutations, in late January 2026.
A) True
B) False
30. The Winter Olympics 2026 are scheduled to be held in:
A) Beijing
B) Milan-Cortina (Italy)
C) Paris
D) Los Angeles
Questions 31-40: Science, Technology & Environment
31. Indian Railways deployed a humanoid robot named ASC ARJUN at Visakhapatnam Railway Station in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
32. The New Aadhaar App launched in 2026 allows users to update mobile number and address using Face Authentication.
A) True
B) False
33. PANCHAM Digital Chatbot is an initiative of which Ministry?
A) Ministry of Panchayati Raj
B) Ministry of Electronics and IT
C) Ministry of Rural Development
D) Ministry of Communications
34. Odisha’s Buddhist Diamond Triangle (Lalitgiri, Udayagiri, Ratnagiri) was added to UNESCO’s Tentative List for World Heritage Sites.
A) True
B) False
35. A massive avalanche struck the Sonamarg tourist resort in Jammu & Kashmir in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
36. The ‘Free-return trajectory’ is associated with which NASA mission mentioned in January 2026 context?
A) Artemis II
B) Chandrayaan-4
C) Gaganyaan
D) Mars Sample Return
37. Pufferfish IUCN status was highlighted in news related to Intersec 2026 or marine sightings.
A) Vulnerable
B) Endangered
C) Least Concern (context-specific)
D) Critically Endangered
38. Intersec 2026 (world’s leading trade fair for security, safety and fire protection) was held in:
A) Dubai
B) Paris
C) New Delhi
D) Beijing
39. Bharat Electricity Summit 2026 was hosted by which city?
A) New Delhi
B) Bengaluru
C) Hyderabad
D) Chennai
34. The 2026 Rules introduced a technology-driven “Polluter Pays” framework for waste management.
A) True
B) False
Questions 41-50: Economy, Sports & Miscellaneous
41. RBI made changes to the repo rate in January 2026 (cut to 5.25% in some reports).
A) True
B) False (context of monetary policy updates)
42. Granth Kutir was inaugurated at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 23 January 2026 by President Droupadi Murmu.
A) True
B) False
43. National Voters Day is observed on:
A) 24 January
B) 25 January
C) 26 January
D) 30 January
44. World Braille Day is observed on:
A) 3 January
B) 4 January
C) 9 January
D) 12 January
45. Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Diwas) is observed on:
A) 23 January
B) 30 January
C) 26 January
D) 15 January
46. A bus accident near Nahan, Himachal Pradesh killed 14 people in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
47. Contaminated water incident in Indore, Madhya Pradesh led to multiple deaths in early January 2026.
A) True
B) False
48. A magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit Assam on 5 January 2026.
A) True
B) False
49. National Girl Child Day is celebrated on:
A) 24 January
B) 25 January
C) 12 January
D) 9 January
50. The Bhashini Samudaye workshop on multilingual AI was organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in January 2026.
A) True
B) False
Answers (for self-evaluation)
1-A, 2-A, 3-B, 4-B, 5-B, 6-A, 7-B, 8-A, 9-B, 10-B 11-A, 12-A, 13-A, 14-A, 15-A, 16-A, 17-A, 18-A (announcement context), 19-A, 20-A 21-A, 22-A, 23-A, 24-A, 25-A, 26-A, 27-A, 28-A, 29-A, 30-B 31-A, 32-A, 33-A (Panchayati Raj context), 34-A, 35-A, 36-A, 37-(context-dependent, often Least Concern or specific), 38-B (or Dubai—check exact), 39-A, 40-A 41-(repo rate updates vary; often B if no cut confirmed), 42-A, 43-B, 44-B, 45-B, 46-A, 47-A, 48-A, 49-A, 50-A