4.5/5
Current Affairs 19th January 2026
IMPORTANT FACTS:
1️. The first Census of India was conducted in the year 1872.
2. The Planning Commission of India was established on 15 March 1950.
3. The slogan of the Quit India Movement was given by Mahatma Gandhi.
4. Fundamental Rights are mentioned in Part III of the Indian Constitution.
5. Madhya Pradesh is the largest landlocked state of India.
1. ICICI Bank re-appointed Sandeep Bakhshi as MD
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Extended Tenure: Bakhshi has been granted a further two-year term, effective from October 4, 2026, to October 3, 2028. This extension follows his current term, which is scheduled to conclude on October 3, 2026.
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Leadership Continuity: The move is seen as a vote of confidence in Bakhshi, who has led the bank since October 2018. Under his leadership, ICICI Bank has significantly improved its asset quality (reducing gross NPAs to ~1.6%) and quadrupled its Return on Assets (RoA) to over 2%.
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Regulatory Status: The re-appointment is currently subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the bank's shareholders. Notably, this two-year term concludes well before he reaches the RBI-mandated age ceiling of 70 for bank CEOs (which he will turn in May 2030).
Footnotes: ICICI Bank's Part-time Chairman: Pradeep Kumar Sinha, HQ: Mumbai, Estd: 1955
2. Museveni Secures appointed as President of Uganda
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Landslide Victory & Seventh Term: Museveni, representing the National Resistance Movement (NRM), secured a seventh term in office with 71.65% of the vote. This victory extends his leadership, which began in 1986, until at least 2031.
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Opposition Rejection: His main challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), who received 24.7% of the vote, rejected the results. He alleged widespread "massive ballot stuffing" and fraud, calling for peaceful protests against the outcome.
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Controversial Conduct: The election was marked by significant tension, including a multi-day nationwide internet shutdown and the use of manual voter registers after biometric identification machines failed in several regions. International observers and rights groups also noted heavy repression of opposition figures during the campaign.
Footnotes: Uganda's PM: Robinah Nabbanja, President: Yoweri K. Museveni, Capital: Kampala
3. PESA Act Implemented in Jharkhand
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Empowerment of Gram Sabhas: The new rules designate the Gram Sabha as the supreme authority in Scheduled Areas. They now have the legal power to manage natural resources (such as minor minerals and water bodies), resolve local disputes, and protect tribal customs. Traditional village heads like the Manki, Munda, and Majhi will preside over these meetings.
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Mandatory Consent & Rights: For the first time, tribal communities in Jharkhand have legal ownership over Minor Forest Produce (MFP). Crucially, the government is now mandated to obtain prior consultation and consent from the Gram Sabha for any land acquisition or mining leases for minor minerals in these regions.
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Coverage & Police Accountability: The rules apply fully in 13 districts (including Ranchi, Khunti, and Dumka) and partially in 3 others. Additionally, a new accountability measure requires the police to inform the Gram Sabha within 48 hours of arresting any person from the village.
Footnotes: Jharkhand's Governor: Santosh Gangwar, CM: Hemant Soren, Capital: Ranchi
4. RBI Issues RB-IOS, 2026
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Significant CompensationHike: The maximum compensation for consequential financial loss has been increased to ₹30 lakh (up from ₹20 lakh). Additionally, the award for mental anguish, harassment, and loss of time has been tripled to ₹3 lakh.
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Stricter Timelines for Redressal: The window for a customer to file a complaint after receiving a bank's response has been tightened to 90 days (previously one year). Regulated entities must now submit their written versions to the Ombudsman within 15 days, or face the risk of an ex-parte award against them.
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Broadened Scope and Efficiency: The scheme now applies to a wider range of services (not just financial) provided by regulated entities. It introduces a "summary process" for faster resolution, meaning the Ombudsman is not bound by formal rules of evidence, and it mandates the establishment of more Centralised Receipt and Processing Centres (CRPC) to handle complaints digitally.
Footnotes: RBI’s Governor: Sanjay Malhotra, HQ: Mumbai, Estd: 1935
5. Smriti Mandhana named as Vice-Captain for Indian Team
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Multi-Format Deputy: Mandhana will serve as the deputy to captain Harmanpreet Kaur across all formats (T20Is, ODIs, and a one-off Test) for the high-profile series in Australia scheduled for February and March 2026.
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World Champion Momentum: Her retention as vice-captain follows a historic 2025 where she played a pivotal role in India’s maiden ICC Women's ODI World Cup victory. She finished 2025 as the world's highest run-scorer in ODIs, amassing over 1,300 runs.
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Milestone Year: The announcement comes as Mandhana continues her stellar form in the ongoing WPL 2026 (where she captains RCB) and follows her recent achievement of becoming only the second Indian woman to surpass 10,000 international runs.
6. Indian Railways honoured Chandana Sinha
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Exceptional Rescue Record: Inspector Sinha, based at Lucknow’s Charbagh station, was recognized for leading the rescue of over 1,500 children from human trafficking and exploitation across Uttar Pradesh's rail network over the past three years. In 2025 alone, her team rescued 1,032 children.
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Leadership of "Operation NanheFarishte": She was honored for her role in spearheading the RPF's flagship child-protection initiative, Operation NanheFarishte. Her unit developed a specialized "model" of vigilance that involves monitoring behavioral cues and body language to identify distressed children hidden in crowds.
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Systemic Impact: The award recognizes not just individual rescues, but the intelligence network she built—consisting of porters, vendors, and NGOs—which has effectively turned railway platforms into a secure barrier against traffickers moving minors between states like Bihar, Punjab, and Haryana.
Footnotes: Minister for Railway: Ashwini Vaishnaw, HQ: New Delhi, Estd: 1853
7. Wikipedia Partners with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon
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Commercial Data Access: These tech giants have moved from "scraping" free data to becoming paid partners. They now use specialized APIs (Real-time, On-demand, and Snapshot) to receive high-volume, structured Wikipedia content specifically optimized for training and powering their AI models and chatbots.
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Financial Sustainability: The deals are designed to ensure that Big Tech companies—which rely heavily on Wikipedia's human-curated data—contribute to the nonprofit's rising infrastructure costs. This comes as "AI overviews" in search engines have led to an 8% drop in human traffic to Wikipedia, threatening its traditional donation-based model.
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Human-Centric AI Strategy: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales emphasized that while the data is used for AI, it remains human-governed. The revenue will be used to support the 250,000+ volunteer editors and to develop AI tools that help them (such as automated scanners to fix dead links) rather than replacing them.
8. ONGC's B&S Asset Wins Prestigious Safety Awards
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Dual National Honors: The B&S Asset bagged two major awards from Grow Care India for 2025–26: the Platinum Award in Fire Safety and the Gold Award in Occupational Health & Safety. These reflect the asset's success in managing the high-risk environment of offshore gas fields.
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Global Distinction: Adding to its national tally, the asset’s BPA Process Complex was recognized as a "Distinction Winner" at the International Safety Awards 2025/26 by the British Safety Council. This is the highest category of the award, given only to organizations that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to health and safety.
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Strategic Excellence: The awards highlight the effectiveness of ONGC’s "Safety. Responsibility. Excellence." culture. Despite the B&S Asset being one of the most complex and vital hubs (contributing a massive share of India’s domestic gas), it maintained a rigorous record of zero major incidents and high operational integrity.
Footnotes: ONGC's Chairman & CEO: Arun Kumar Singh, HQ: Delhi, Estd: 1956
WHAT HAPPENED TODAY?
1966 – Indira Gandhi was elected first woman PM of India.
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She succeeded Lal Bahadur Shastri in January 1966.
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She belonged to Indian National Congress & later became one of India’s longest-serving PMs.
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