DAILY GK 9-11 JAN 2026
1.
ATI VISHISHT RAIL
SEVA PURASKAR 2025 TO RAILWAY OFFICIALS
·
Union Minister
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ministry of Railways (MoR), Ministry of Information
& Broadcasting (MIB), and Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology (MeitY), conferred 100 railway officers and
employees with the 70th Ati Vishisht Rail
Seva Puraskar (AVRSP 2025) and awarded 26
shields to the top-performing railway zones.
·
The AVRSP is one of the highest service awards of Indian Railways (IR), recognizing exemplary service, innovation, courage, and
institutional excellence.
·
On January 9, 2026, Indian Railways
marked the completion of 100 years of
rail electrification.
2.
BOOK - ‘AGNI SARASSULO VIKASINCHINA KAMALAM DROUPADI MURMU’
·
The Telugu book ‘Agni
Sarassulo Vikasinchina Kamalam Droupadi Murmu’ (Lotus Blooming in
the Fire of Coals), chronicling President
Droupadi Murmu’s life from tribal roots to Rashtrapati Bhavan, was released
at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP).
·
Authored by former Member of Parliament (MP) Yarlagadda
Lakshmi Prasad (Vishwa Hindi Parishad President), it was unveiled
by a sanitation worker, symbolizing empowerment from humble origins.
·
She is Firsts Tribal President, born post-Independence
(youngest at 64), Odisha’s first female Member of Legislative
Assembly(MLA) from Scheduled Tribes(ST).
3. GOI APPROVES NUTRIENT-BASED SUBSIDY RATES FOR RABI 2025–26
SEASON
·
The Government of India (GoI) approved the Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS)
rates for the Rabi 2025–26 season,
effective from October 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K)
fertilizers, including Di-Ammonium
Phosphate (DAP) and NPKS (Nitrogen,
Phosphorus, Potassium, and Sulphur) grades.
·
The policy has a fixed subsidy, a decontrolled P&K sector with company-set Maximum Retail Price (MRP)
under GoI oversight, and subsidies passed directly to farmers.
·
The government has estimated a
tentative budgetary requirement of Rs.
37,952.29 crore for the Rabi 2025–26 season, which is approximately Rs.736 crore higher than
the allocation for the Kharif 2025 season.
·
For Rabi 2025–26, the NBS rates are
Rs. 43.02 per kg for Nitrogen (N), Rs. 47.96 per kg for Phosphorus (P), Rs. 2.38 per kg for Potassium (K), and Rs. 2.87 per kg for Sulphur (S).
·
GoI has raised the DAP subsidy
to Rs 29,805 per metric tonne (MT) from Rs 21,911 in
Rabi 2024-25 to protect farmers from international price volatility.
·
Subsidized fertilizers include DAP
(18-46-0-0) at Rs 29,805/MT, Muriate of Potash (MOP 0-0-60-0) at Rs 1,428/MT, and Single Super
Phosphate (SSP 0-16-0-11) at Rs 7,408/MT.
·
Domestic production of P&K fertilizers
(DAP and NPKS)
increased by over 50%, rising from 112.19 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) in 2014 to
168.55 LMT by 30th December 2025.
·
Foodgrain productivity grew from 1,930 kg per hectare in 2010–11 to 2,578 kg per hectare in 2024–25.
·
Fertilizers fortified or coated
with Boron (B) or Zinc (Zn) are eligible for additional incentives of Rs
300 and Rs 500 per MT respectively, as per the Fertilizer Control Order.
4. NITI AAYOG
‘TRADE WATCH QUARTERLY’ REPORT
·
Dr. Arvind Virmani, Member
of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog launched
the 5th edition of ‘Trade
Watch Quarterly (TWQ) for Quarter 1 (Q1: April-June, 2025) of Financial
Year 2025-26 (FY26), in New Delhi, Delhi.
·
The
key focus of this latest edition was India’s
automotive exports sector
·
The
global auto-components market reached USD 856 billion in 2024, growing at a
3% CAGR since 2015, while India’s
exports nearly doubled from USD 8.2 billion to USD 16.9 billion, achieving
a faster 7% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the same period.
·
Since
2015, India’s share of the global automotive import market has stayed around
1%, with exports growing at a CAGR of 3.5%,
slightly below the global average of 3.9%.
·
The report highlighted that India, while performing well in
certain automotive segments, contributes only USD 30 billion (1.4%)
to the USD 2.2‑trillion global
automotive import market in 2024, indicating significant scope to expand
its share.
·
The
global trade in goods and services increased around
2.5% on quarterly basis during Q1FY26, driven mainly by developing economies and rising South-South trade,
even as the United States of America (USA) trade weighed on the global
average.
·
It further highlighted Goods trade increased
from 2% to 2.5%, while service trade rebounded.
·
The report also revealed that India’s goods and services
exports and imports reached USD 209 billion and USD
230 billion, respectively in Q1FY26, each increasing by around 3-4% on
an annual basis, registering a combined deficit of USD 21 billion.
5. NSO
RELEASES FAE OF GDP 2025-26
·
The National Statistics
Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released
the First Advance Estimates (FAE)
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26), along with its Expenditure components both at Constant (2011-12) and Current Price.
·
The Real GDP has been estimated to grow by 7.4% in
FY26 against the growth of 6.5% during FY25.
·
Real
GDP or GDP at Constant Prices is estimated at Rs 201.90
lakh crore in FY26, against the Provisional Estimates (PE) of GDP for
the FY25 of Rs 187.97 lakh crore
·
Nominal
GDP growth at current prices is projected
at 8% in FY26, which is lower than the previous year’s record
of 10.4%.
·
Nominal
GDP is estimated at Rs 357.14 lakh
crore in FY26, against Rs 330.68 lakh crore in FY25.
·
Gross Value Added
(GVA) is estimated at Rs 184.50 lakh
crore in the FY26, against the PE for the FY25 of Rs 171.87 lakh
crore, registering a growth rate of 7.3%.
·
Nominal
GVA is estimated at Rs 323.48 lakh
crore during FY26, against Rs 300.22 lakh crore in FY25, recording a
growth rate of 7.7%.
6. RBI
CANCELS COR OF 35 NBFCS FOR REGULATORY NON-COMPLIANCE
·
The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has cancelled the Certificate of
Registration (CoR) of 35 Non-Banking
Financial Companies (NBFCs) for non-compliance with regular
requirements
·
Key
firms in Delhi/NCR include AG Securities,
ALB Leasing & Finance, ATM Credit & Investments, Corporate Capital
Services India, Decisive Finance, Divine Investments, Liberty Sales, Pearls
Hire Purchase Corporation, Quasar India Fincap, Sunlife Securities, Sunrise
Manufacturing Co, Swito Finance & Estates, Triveni Vinimay and others.
·
Outside the NCR, Shivom
Investment & Consultancy Ltd is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, while Satya
Prakash Capital Investment Ltd operates from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh(MP).
7. UN-DESA PROJECTS INDIA’S GDP GROWTH AT 6.6% FOR 2026
·
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA)
released report titled ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects
(WESP) 2026’, projecting
India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at a robust 6.6% for
the calendar year (CY) 2026, down from
earlier estimate of 7.4% and forecast 6.7% for 2027
·
India’s Inflation is forecast at 4.1 percent
for 2025.
·
Global growth is expected to moderate to 2.7% in 2026, down from an estimated 2.8% in 2025 and 2.9 percent in 2027.
·
Global trade is projected to slow significantly to 2.2% in 2026,
compared to 3.8% in 2025.
·
India’s real GDP growth for Financial Year 2025–26 (FY26) is projected
at 7.4%, up from 6.5% in FY 2024–25.
·
Services Gross Value Added (GVA) is projected to grow 7.3%, driven by core services at 9.9% and trade-related services at 7.5%.
·
Agriculture and allied sectors are
expected to grow moderately at 3.1%
on healthy crop output.
·
UN-DESA Headquarters– New York, USA
·
Establishment– 1948
8. EARTH’S
ROTATION DAY 2026 – JANUARY 8
·
Earth’s Rotation Day is
annually observed across the globe on 8th January to highlight
the significance of Earth’s rotational motion and to commemorate French
physicist Léon Foucault’s historic 1851 pendulum experiment, which
first publicly demonstrated the Earth’s rotation.
·
Greek scholars as early
as 470 Before Christ(BC) proposed that the Earth
rotates, an idea later developed in the 16th century by Nicolaus
Copernicus through the heliocentric model and supported by Galileo
Galilei’s observations in 1610.
·
On 8 January 1851, French
physicist Léon Foucault conclusively proved Earth’s rotation using a pendulum
experiment at the Panthéon in Paris, France.
·
Earth
rotates on an imaginary axis connecting the North and South Poles,
tilted at approximately 23.5 degrees to its orbital plane.
·
Earth
rotates from west to east once every 24 hours (mean solar day)
at a speed of about 1,670 kilometers per
hour (km/h) at the equator, causing the Sun and stars to appear to move
across the sky.
·
The
Earth’s diameter measures 12,714 kilometer (km)
(7,900 miles) from the North to South
Pole and 12,756 km (7,926 miles) across the equator.
·
Earth
revolves around the Sun in approximately 365 days,
and its rotation speed varies slightly, causing minor differences of seconds
per day.
9. PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS – JANUARY 9
·
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
(PBD), also known as Non-Resident Indian (NRI)
Day, is biennially observed across India on 9 January to
recognise and honour the significant contributions of the overseas Indian
community to the nation’s development.
·
Observed annually on 9th January since 2003 to mark Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa in 1915 to lead India’s freedom struggle.
·
It is the MEA’s flagship event, first introduced in 2003 by the
Government of India (GoI) under Prime
Minister (PM) Atal Bihari Vajpayee, celebrates and engages the overseas
Indian community for their contributions to India’s development.
·
The 18th PBD Convention was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha under the theme “Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit
Bharat (Developed India).”
·
The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), India’s highest honour for overseas Indians, is presented by the
President of India during the PBD Convention’s Valedictory Session and is
awarded to NRIs, Person of Indian Origin (PIOs), or organizations/institutions
run by them for exceptional contributions.
10.
WORLD HINDI DAY 2026
– JANUARY 10
·
World Hindi Day, also known as Vishwa Hindi Diwas, is annually observed across the
globe on 10 January to promote awareness of the
Hindi language and to honour the contributions of Hindi speakers around the
world.
·
The first-ever World Hindi
Day was celebrated on 10 January 2006.
·
January 10 marks the first use of Hindi in
the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1949.
·
In India, Hindi Diwas, is observed annually on 14
September to mark the 1949 decision of the Constituent Assembly
to adopt Hindi in the Devanagari script
as one of the 22 official languages of India.
·
Under Article 343 of the Constitution of India, Hindi in the Devanagari script became the official language of the Government of India (GoI) in 1950 and
is listed among the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule.
·
Hindi is among the top four most spoken languages globally, with over 600 million speakers, and is widely used in countries such
as Mauritius, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nepal.
·
Fiji is the only country outside
India where Hindi is an official
language alongside English and Fijian, with “Fiji Hindi” originating from
Indian laborers under the indentured system and formally recognized in the 1997
Constitution of Fiji.
