8th January 2026 Current Affairs MCQ Quiz

On 17 January 2026, PM Modi flagged off India's first Vande Bharat Sleeper train between Howrah (West Bengal) and Kamakhya (Guwahati, Assam), built for overnight travel at speeds up to 180 km/h.

Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987-batch IAS officer and former Finance Secretary, took charge as SEBI Chairman on 1 March 2025, succeeding Madhabi Puri Buch.

Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander touched down near the Moon's South Pole in August 2023, making India the first country to land in that region and the fourth to achieve a soft lunar landing.

Whenever the RBI hikes the repo rate, it is essentially trying to cool down the economy to stop prices from rising too fast. It is the central bank's main tool for managing inflation.

COP31 will be hosted by Turkiye in the city of Antalya in late 2026, with Australia leading the negotiations under a dual-leadership arrangement. COP30 was held in Belem, Brazil.

Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the 2026 Australian Open women's singles final to claim her second Grand Slam title.

Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India is creating dedicated hubs where green hydrogen can replace fossil fuels in hard-to-abate, heavy industries such as steel, refining and fertilizers.

Nokia partnered with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to jointly research 6G radio, architecture and AI/ML technologies, working out of Nokia's 6G Lab in Bengaluru.

For the first time, the top EU leadership - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa - are the Chief Guests at India's 77th Republic Day parade, reflecting deepening India-EU ties.

The IMF tracks global economic performance and regularly revises its World Economic Outlook growth projections, with recent updates flagging geopolitical tensions as a key downside risk.

The Information Technology Act of 2000 is showing its age. The proposed Digital India Act aims to replace it to address cyber-crime, data protection, deepfakes and AI regulation in the modern internet era.

The 78th Army Day parade was held in Jaipur, Rajasthan, hosted for the first time by the South Western Command, continuing the practice of celebrating the day outside New Delhi.

Matsya 6000 is India's crewed deep-ocean submersible developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). Designed to reach 6,000 metres, it will help India explore deep-sea biodiversity and mineral resources.

The Humanitarian Mission Proliska, a Ukrainian NGO supporting people affected by the war, was the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award's 2025 regional winner for Europe. The Global Laureate was Martin Azia Sodea of Cameroon.

Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the 2026 Australian Open final to win his first AO title and seventh major, becoming the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam in singles.

Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh is being prepared as the second home for cheetahs under Project Cheetah, helping build a self-sustaining metapopulation across the Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape.

On 9 January 2026, Indian Railways marked 100 years of rail electrification, having electrified over 68,700 route kilometres. India's first electric train ran in February 1925 between Bombay VT and Kurla.

In January 2026, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved 1994-batch IPS officer Rakesh Aggarwal as Director General of the NIA, with a tenure up to August 2028.

The SISFS provides seed funding to early-stage startups - grants up to Rs 20 lakh for proof of concept or prototype development, and up to Rs 50 lakh through convertible debentures or debt for market entry and scaling.

ISRO's Aditya-L1, launched in September 2023, was placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1) in January 2024, giving it an uninterrupted view of the Sun.