Saturday, Jan 03

Daily Current Affairs: 3 January 2026

Daily current affairs for 3 January 2026 with exam-focused key facts, connected news context, and revision notes for UPSC, SSC, banking and government exams.

Editorial note for exam revision Last updated: 3 January 2026. This briefing is structured for current affairs revision, with key updates and related coverage links to help readers connect recurring topics across days.

Today at a glance

Top current affairs to revise

  1. CP Radhakrishnan participates as Chief Guest at multiple events during visit to Puducherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
  2. Meera Syal appointed Dame in New Year Honours
  3. Lav Aggarwal appointed as Director General of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
  4. S&P Global Ratings (S&P) flags safeguard duties raise steel import parity floor
  5. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) grants BRISKPE final PA-CB authorisation for cross-border inward and outward payments.
  6. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mandates NISM certification for Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) compliance officers from 2027.

CP Radhakrishnan participates as Chief Guest at multiple events during visit to Puducherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu

[Puducherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu]

Key Updates:

  • CP Radhakrishnan, Vice-President of India, attended the 30th Convocation of Pondicherry University as Chief Guest.
  • He unveiled the statue of Mahakavi Bharathiar and launched a housing project under the Smart City Mission in Puducherry.
  • He participated as Chief Guest at the valedictory ceremony of Kashi-Tamil Sangamam 4.0 in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
  • He inaugurated the public meeting concluding the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Meera Syal appointed Dame in New Year Honours

[United Kingdom]

Key Updates:

  • Meera Syal has been made a Dame for services to literature, drama and charity.
  • She was previously appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1997 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015.
  • Dame Meera co-wrote and starred in the British Asian comedies Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No 42.
  • Her debut novel Anita And Me won the Betty Trask Award.
  • She is an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society and supporter of the charity Kisharon.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Lav Aggarwal appointed as Director General of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)

[Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)]

Key Updates:

  • Lav Aggarwal, previously Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, appointed as Director General of DGFT.
  • Rabindra Kumar Agarwal appointed to head Food Corporation of India (FCI).
  • Srikant Nagulapalli assigned role in Ministry of Petroleum.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Aparna Garg appointed as Member Finance, Railway Board (Start of December)

Aparna Garg, Director General (DG), Indian Railways Institute of Financial Management (IRIFM), has been appointed as the Member Finance, Railway Board (RB), with effect from December 1, 2025. Her appointment is for a…

Vishvajit Sahay assumes charge as Controller General of Defence Accounts (Start of November)

Vishvajit Sahay, 1990-batch IDAS officer, took over as Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) Alumnus of St. Stephen's College, Delhi; previously served as Additional Secretary & FA, Dept of Science & Technology…

S&P Global Ratings (S&P) flags safeguard duties raise steel import parity floor

Key Updates:

  • India extended safeguard duties on select steel products until April 2028, starting at 12 per cent and tapering to 11 per cent.
  • The Director General Trade Remedies (DGTR) investigation found imports of specific steel products had increased in a recent, sudden, sharp and significant manner, causing and threatening serious injury to domestic producers.
  • Benchmark hot rolled coil prices corrected by more than 10 per cent to Rs 46,000 per ton in early December 2025 from a high of Rs 52,500 per ton in May 2025.
  • S&P assumes average prices of Rs 48,000 per ton over the next 12 to 18 months.
  • S&P projects domestic steel consumption will expand at 8 per cent annually over the next three to four years, significantly higher than the 2-3 per cent global average.
  • With the levy in place, import parity increases by about Rs 6,500 per ton.
  • If current prices are maintained at Rs 50,000 per ton, this could increase the aggregate earnings of select steel companies representing 50 per cent of India's total steel output by about 10 per cent.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) grants BRISKPE final PA-CB authorisation for cross-border inward and outward payments.

[Reserve Bank of India (RBI)]

Key Updates:

  • BRISKPE receives RBI final authorisation to operate as a Payment Aggregator-Cross Border under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007.
  • Authorisation covers both inward and outward payment flows within the RBI PA-CB regulatory framework.
  • BRISKPE becomes one of India’s youngest cross-border payments fintechs to secure PA-CB approval.
  • Platform serves over 10,000 customers, majority being MSME exporters.
  • BRISKPE targets scaling transaction volumes above USD 1 billion by end-2026.
  • Operations integrate with global banks for collections and AD Category-I banks in India.
  • Platform holds ISO 27001, SOC-II-Type-II certifications and is GDPR compliant.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Junio Payments Secures RBI In-Principle Authorisation for Prepaid Payment Instruments (Start of November)

IANS Junio Payments Pvt Ltd (JPPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstPay Technologies, has secured in-principle authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs). The…

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mandates NISM certification for Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) compliance officers from 2027.

[Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)]

Key Updates:

  • Sebi requires the Compliance Officer of Manager of an AIF to obtain certification from the National Institute of Securities Market by passing the NISM Series-III-C: Securities Intermediaries Compliance (Fund) Certification Examination.
  • From January 1, 2027, only certified persons can be appointed or continue as compliance officers of managers of AIFs.
  • Trustee/sponsor/managers of AIFs must reflect compliance with this requirement in the 'Compliance Test Report' prepared by the manager.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Government of India announces India overtakes Japan to become world’s fourth-largest economy at USD 4.18 trillion

Key Updates:

  • India has surpassed Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy with a GDP of USD 4.18 trillion.
  • India is poised to overtake Germany to become the third-largest economy by 2030 with a projected GDP of USD 7.3 trillion.
  • India's real GDP grew 8.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2025-26, up from 7.8 per cent in the first quarter and 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal.
  • The World Bank has projected a 6.5 per cent growth in 2026.
  • Moody's expects India to remain the fastest-growing G20 economy with a growth of 6.4 per cent in 2026 and 6.5 per cent in 2027.
  • The IMF has raised its projections to 6.6 per cent for 2025 and 6.2 per cent for 2026.
  • The OECD forecasts 6.7 per cent growth in 2025 and 6.2 per cent in 2026.
  • S&P anticipates a growth of 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal and 6.7 per cent in the next.
  • The Asian Development Bank has lifted its 2025 forecast to 7.2 per cent.
  • Fitch has raised its FY26 projection to 7.4 per cent on stronger consumer demand.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

India rises to 9th spot globally in forest area, retains 3rd position in forest gain: FAO report (End of October)

India moved from 10th to 9th rank in total forest area globally and kept 3rd rank in annual forest area gain, according to FAO’s Global Forest Resource Assessment (GFRA) 2025. FAO lists world’s total forest area at 4.14…

US and Singapore together accounted for over one-third of India’s FDI in FY25: RBI FLA census (End of October)

The United States and Singapore together accounted for over one-third of the FDI in India during 2024-25. Out of 45,702 responding entities, 41,517 reported foreign direct investment and/or overseas direct investment in…

Jal Seva Aankalan empowers villages to judge their own water services

Key Updates:

  • Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, e-launched Jal Seva Aankalan, a Gram Panchayat-led digital drinking water service functionality assessment tool on the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) portal.
  • The assessment is a structured, community-led self-review process enabling villages to evaluate regularity, adequacy, quality and sustainability of drinking water supply.
  • All Har Ghar Jal Gram Panchayats are expected to complete Jal Seva Aankalan by 26th January 2026.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Department of Posts discontinues select outward international letter mail services

Key Updates:

  • The Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications will discontinue selected outward international letter mail services starting January 1 to keep in line with Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s decisions.
  • Discontinued services include Registered Small Packet service, Outward Small Packet service sent by Sea/SAL/Air, and Surface Air Lifted (SAL) Letter Mail Service for outward letter post items.
  • Customers are encouraged to use International Tracked Packet Service (ITPS) and other international parcel services that provide end-to-end tracking, faster delivery, better customs compliance, and security.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

SBI to Discontinue mCASH Service After November 30, 2025 (Mid of November)

State Bank of India will stop its mCASH sending and claiming facility on OnlineSBI and YONO Lite after November 30, 2025. SBI advises customers to switch to UPI, IMPS, NEFT, and RTGS for future money transfers.

IPPB-EPFO MoU: doorstep Digital Life Certificate service for pensioners (Start of November)

India Post Payments Bank signed an MoU with EPFO to provide doorstep Digital Life Certificate services to EPFO pensioners under the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995. IPPB will use its network of over 1.65 lakh post…

Ministry of Defence signs Rs 4,666 crore contracts for CQB Carbines and Heavy Weight Torpedoes

[Ministry of Defence]

Key Updates:

  • The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed contracts worth Rs 4,666 crore for procurement of Close Quarter Battle (CQB) Carbine and Heavy Weight Torpedoes.
  • Over 4.25 lakh CQB carbines, along with accessories worth Rs 2,770 crore, were contracted with Bharat Forge Ltd and PLR Systems Pvt Ltd for the Indian Army and Indian Navy.
  • The CQB Carbine provides rapid, decisive lethality in confined spaces and replaces legacy systems under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' vision.
  • The contract for 48 Heavy Weight Torpedoes for Kalvari Class Submarines (P-75) of the Indian Navy, worth Rs 1,896 crore, was signed with WASS Submarine Systems S.R.L., Italy.
  • Delivery of torpedoes will commence in April 2028 and be completed by early 2030.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Indian Railways commissions Kavach 4.0 on Gujarat’s Bajwa (Vadodara)–Ahmedabad Section

[Gujarat]

Key Updates:

  • Kavach 4.0 has been commissioned in Gujarat’s first Bajwa(Vadodara)–Ahmedabad section(96-km).
  • The project covers 17 stations and includes robust infrastructure such as 23 towers, 20 Kavach buildings/huts, 192 km of optical fibre cable, and installation of 2,872 RFID tags.
  • Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system of Indian Railways, designed to provide the highest level of operational safety.
  • It is a highly technology-intensive system certified to Safety Integrity Level–4 (SIL-4), one of the highest safety standards in signalling systems.
  • Kavach assists Loco Pilots by automatically applying brakes in situations where prescribed speed limits are exceeded or when safety is compromised.
  • Key enhancements in Kavach 4.0 include improved location accuracy, better signal aspect information in large and complex station yards, station-to-station Kavach interface through optical fibre cable, and direct integration with existing electronic interlocking systems.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Cabinet Clears ₹9,857 Cr Pune Metro Phase-II Project (End of November)

The Union Cabinet approved Line 4 Kharadi–Hadapsar–Swargate–Khadakwasla and Line 4A Nal Stop–Warje–Manik Baug under Phase-2 of the Pune Metro Rail Project. The project has an estimated cost of Rs 9,857.85 crore, to be…

MoS&T-TDB and VMSPL Sign IC-CIR&D Pact for 20-Passenger Electric Boat

Key Updates:

  • The Technology Development Board (TDB) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology (MoS&T), signed an agreement with Vijai Marine Services Private Limited (VMSPL), Goa for the 'Smart Sea Project by Vijai Autonomous Craft for Environment (VACE)'.
  • The project will develop and demonstrate a 20-passenger electric boat with IRS-certified FRP hull, electric propulsion and battery systems supplied by Canadian partner ACEL Power Inc.
  • Aimed at reducing emissions and noise, the initiative supports India’s goals of clean waterways and sustainable tourism under the Indo-Canada Collaborative Industrial Research and Development Programme (IC-CIR&D).

Related Current Affairs Coverage

DRDO's Samanvay 2025 Meet in Bengaluru Sees Tech Transfer Agreements (Start of November)

The event, Samanvay 2025, is a two-day industry synergy meet organised by the Electronics and Communication Systems (ECS) cluster of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Proof: "The handover took…

DoT’s NCA and IIM Calcutta Sign MoU for Telecom Sector Capacity Building (End of October)

the National Communications Academy (NCA) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on capacity…

NMCG approves first-of-its-kind avifauna conservation project for sandbar-nesting birds in Ganga basin

Key Updates:

  • A new project has been approved to protect breeding habitats of sandbar-nesting birds, including the Indian Skimmer.
  • The project will use Nature based Solutions for in-situ treatment of the Shastri Park drain, Gaushala drain, and Kailash Nagar/Ramesh Nagar drains in Delhi before they enter the Yamuna.
  • A comprehensive master plan has been prepared to restore the natural sanctity and cultural identity of the Gomti River’s origin site at Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary Welcomes Thousands of Migratory Birds (Start of November)

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is buzzing with life as thousands of migratory birds arrive, heralding the start of the season. Over 20 species, including open-billed storks and white ibis, have begun nesting.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) qualifies upgraded third stage of SSLV via static test

[Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)]

Key Updates:

  • ISRO successfully carried out a static ground test of an improved version of the third stage of its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
  • The test was conducted at the Solid Motor Static Test Facility at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.
  • The improved SS3 motor features a carbon-epoxy composite motor case, reducing inert mass and yielding a payload gain of about 90 kg for SSLV.
  • The third stage alone delivers velocities of up to 4 km/second to the launch vehicle.
  • Nozzle control is achieved through a fault-tolerant electro-mechanical actuation system supported by low-power control electronics.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest Indian to ski to South Pole

Key Updates:

  • Kaamya Karthikeyan became the youngest Indian and second-youngest woman in the world to ski to the South Pole.
  • She completed a 115 km trek on foot to reach the South Pole.
  • The Indian Navy described her feat as a 'moment of immense pride and inspiration'.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Kavita Chand Scales Mount Vinson (Mid of December)

Kavita Chand conquered Mount Vinson in Antarctica, the highest peak in that continent, that has a height of 4,892 meters above the sea level. She had previously conquered Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe.

Chillai-Kalan begins on December 21 (End of December)

Chillai-Kalan is the 40-day harsh winter period in Kashmir that begins on December 21 every year and ends on January 31. The local meteorological department has forecast moderate to heavy snowfall in the higher reaches…

Volodar Murzin defends FIDE World Rapid title; Magnus Carlsen & Ian Nepomniachtchi share FIDE World Blitz crown

[FIDE]

Key Updates:

  • Volodar Murzin emerged as the World Rapid champion in 2024 after beating Alexander Grischuk.
  • Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi were the joint World Blitz champions.
  • The 2025 championships are hosted at Qatar University’s Sports and Events Complex in Doha.
  • Each of the Rapid and Blitz sections carries a €350,000 prize fund, with the winner taking home €70,000.

Related Current Affairs Coverage

Alpine SG Pipers clinches Global Chess League (GCL) title (End of December)

Alpine SG Pipers scored a convincing victory in the final of the Global Chess League (GCL) over Continental Kings — the winner of the first two editions — at the Royal Opera House on Tuesday. SG Pipers claimed an…

Chess World Cup 2025 Trophy Named Viswanathan Anand Cup (Start of November)

The World Cup winner's trophy will be called Viswanathan Anand Cup. The trophy features the peacock, the national bird of India in a frozen dance form.

Air India and airBaltic sign codeshare agreement

[Air India]

Key Updates:

  • Air India has signed a codeshare agreement with Latvia’s national carrier airBaltic to improve travel connectivity between India and the Baltic region.
  • The airline announced the partnership on December 30, 2025.
  • Under the unilateral codeshare, Air India has started placing its ‘AI’ flight code on airBaltic-operated services between Riga and several major European cities.

Related Current Affairs Coverage