Daily Current Affairs
Today's exam-ready bundle for SSC, Banking, UPSC, Railway and Defence — bilingual headlines, key facts, mnemonics, exam-track MCQs and flashcards.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has commemorated 33,000 Indian Army soldiers who died during the First World War in the Mesopotamia Campaign through new digital name panels at the Basra Memorial in Iraq — correcting a long-standing colonial-era omission that had recorded their sacrifices only numerically rather than by name; the digital panels now display the names, ranks, and regiments of Indian soldiers alongside over 46,000 Commonwealth service personnel; historian Shrabani Basu welcomed the move as restoring the honour these soldiers deserved.
राष्ट्रमंडल युद्ध समाधि आयोग (CWGC) ने प्रथम विश्व युद्ध की मेसोपोटामिया मुहिम में मारे गए 33,000 भारतीय सेना सैनिकों को इराक के बसरा स्मारक पर नई डिजिटल नाम पैनलों के माध्यम से स्मरण किया है — एक दीर्घकालिक औपनिवेशिक-युग की चूक को सुधारते हुए जिसने उनके बलिदानों को नाम के बजाय केवल संख्यात्मक रूप से दर्ज किया था; डिजिटल पैनल अब 46,000 से अधिक राष्ट्रमंडल सेवा कर्मियों के साथ भारतीय सैनिकों के नाम, पद, एवं रेजिमेंट प्रदर्शित करते हैं; इतिहासकार श्रबनी बासु ने इस क़दम का स्वागत करते हुए कहा कि यह इन सैनिकों को वह सम्मान बहाल करता है जिसके वे हक़दार थे।
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has commemorated 33,000 Indian Army soldiers who died during the First World War in the Mesopotamia Campaign — through new digital name panels at the Basra Memorial in Iraq. The Indian soldiers…
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- history· 1
- international· 3
- 02Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 27-28 April 2026 to participate in the Defence Ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO); the high-level forum will focus on regional security challenges, terrorism, extremism, and the changing geopolitical environment across Eurasia and Asia; India became a full SCO member in 2017 (alongside Pakistan); the SCO was founded in 2001 and includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and several Central Asian nations.SSCBankingUPSC
- 07India has welcomed Japan's recent revision of its defence export framework — calling it a significant step towards strengthening bilateral security cooperation under the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership (elevated to that status in 2014); the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), through Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, said the move will deepen cooperation in defence and security domains and open new opportunities in advanced technology and defence manufacturing; Japan has amended its long-standing 'Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology' to permit broader transfers (subject to case-by-case evaluation and strict export-control monitoring); Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasised that 'no country can ensure security alone' in today's world.SSCBankingUPSC
- 11China has announced that it will send two giant pandas — male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding — to Zoo Atlanta in the United States as part of a 10-year conservation partnership signed in 2025, continuing its 'panda diplomacy' tradition; the move comes despite ongoing US-China tensions and ahead of US President Donald Trump's planned May 2026 visit to China; panda diplomacy with the US dates to 1972, when China gifted a pair to the National Zoo in Washington following President Richard Nixon's historic visit; in 2024, the National Zoo and the San Diego Zoo also received pandas as wildlife cooperation resumed.SSCBankingUPSC
- economy· 3
- 03India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.36 billion to $703.31 billion for the week ended 17 April 2026, according to RBI data — the second consecutive weekly rise after a $3.825 billion increase the previous week (reaching $700.946 billion); Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), the largest component, rose by $1.48 billion to $557.46 billion; reserves had touched an all-time high of $728.494 billion in February 2026 before declining due to RBI dollar sales amid West Asia geopolitical tensions affecting the rupee; forex reserves comprise FCA + gold + Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) + reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).SSCBankingUPSC
- 05The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the banking licence of Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) — citing operations detrimental to depositors' interests and management practices prejudicial to public interest, alongside persistent governance and compliance failures — and will approach the High Court for winding-up proceedings; the cancellation marks the culmination of escalating regulatory action that began with a March 2022 ban on onboarding new customers and a January 2024 directive (effective March 2024) prohibiting fresh deposits, credit transactions, wallet top-ups, FASTag, and NCMC services; PPBL — founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2017 as one of India's first payments banks — can now only facilitate withdrawals of existing funds and cannot accept new deposits or transactions; RBI has confirmed the bank has sufficient liquidity to repay depositors.SSCBankingUPSC
- 13Brazil has overtaken India as the leading exporter of corn (maize) to Bangladesh — signalling a major shift in regional agricultural trade; for years India had held the dominant position thanks to competitive pricing and geographical proximity, but since 2024 rising domestic demand for maize, especially for India's ethanol-blending programme, has reduced India's export capacity and made Indian maize less price-competitive abroad; Brazil — with large-scale production, efficient supply chains, and consistent supply volumes — has captured a significant share of Bangladesh's growing feed-grain market driven by its expanding poultry and animal-feed industries.SSCBankingUPSC
- judiciary· 1
- defence· 1
- art-culture· 1
- environment· 2
- 09India added a record 6.1 GW of wind energy capacity in 2025-26, taking total installed wind capacity to over 56.1 GW and consolidating its position as the FOURTH-largest wind energy producer globally; the country has set a target of 100 GW of wind capacity by 2030 (within its broader 500 GW non-fossil energy commitment under the Panchamrit pledges of COP26 in Glasgow), and net-zero by 2070; India's wind energy potential is estimated at approximately 1,164 GW at 150-meter hub height, with significant scope across Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra; the country's domestic manufacturing ecosystem produces 70-80% of wind equipment (blades, towers, turbines) with annual capacity of 24+ GW.SSCBankingUPSC
- 12A new scientific study by researchers associated with Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) has suggested that sperm whales — the largest toothed animals on Earth and possessors of the largest brain among any mammal — may use communication structures with rhythm and spacing variations similar to vowel-like sounds in human speech; the study analysed 'codas' (rapid bursts of clicks produced when whales surface) and found organised patterns and variations indicating a more complex communication system than previously understood, opening new possibilities for understanding marine intelligence and animal communication evolution.SSCBankingUPSC
- people· 4
- 10Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh has appointed Nitu Sarma — its Chief Financial Officer since October 2021 — as interim Chief Executive Officer following directions from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that the CEO of an airport operating in India must be an Indian citizen; outgoing CEO Christoph Schnellmann (a Swiss national who served since August 2020) moves to the Board of Directors as Executive Vice Chairman; the airport — inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2026 — is expected to reduce pressure on Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and become one of India's largest international airports.SSCBankingUPSC
- 15Parminder Singh has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Enterprise Intelligence Limited (REIL) — a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Meta focused on building enterprise artificial-intelligence solutions in India, backed by Jio's connectivity and infrastructure and including plans for large-scale AI-ready data centres powered by green energy; Singh — formerly Chief Commercial and Digital Officer at Singapore-based Mediacorp and a founder of AI ventures including ClayboxAI and WeKamp — brings senior leadership experience from Google, Apple, Twitter, and IBM, positioning him to lead India's enterprise-AI transformation.SSCBankingUPSC
- 16Srikanth Velamakanni — Co-founder of Fractal Analytics, a globally-recognised AI and analytics company — has been appointed the new Chairman of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), the apex industry body representing India's IT and Business Process Management (BPM) sector; the appointment comes as India's digital economy expands rapidly, and Velamakanni's strong AI background is expected to guide the IT industry through emerging technologies, global competition, and innovation-driven growth; NASSCOM was established in 1988 and represents over 3,000 member companies.SSCBankingUPSC
- 17Rajesh Kumar Agarwal has assumed charge as Director at Power Finance Corporation (PFC) — bringing over three decades of experience in power and financial services, most of it spent at PFC itself across project financing, credit appraisal, risk assessment, and loan portfolio management spanning generation, transmission, and distribution; PFC is India's leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) focused exclusively on the power sector, established in 1986 under the Ministry of Power, listed on BSE and NSE, and granted Maharatna status on 12 October 2021 — a recognition reserved for the largest and most autonomous Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).SSCBankingUPSC
- banking· 1
- sports· 1