Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

Global Safety Index 2026

♦ Abu Dhabi has once again been named the world’s safest city in the latest Numbeo Global Safety Index 2026. This marking the tenth consecutive year the UAE capital has topped the global rankings. The 2026 safety report evaluated 400 cities across more than 150 countries and placed Abu Dhabi at number one for overall safety, including walking alone safely in broad daylight and at night, consolidating its status as a global leader in urban security and quality of life. ♦ Abu Dhabi’s latest triumph continues a decade-long positive trend that began in 2017, when it first captured the world’s No. 1 safety ranking. Ever since, the capital has retained this title, outpacing major global cities and reinforcing confidence in its public safety infrastructure. The top 10 safest cities in the world in 2026 are: Rank City Name Country Safety Index 1 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 88.9 2 Ras al-Khaimah United Arab Emirates 85.3 3 Doha Qatar 84.5 4 Sharjah United Arab Emirates 84.5 5 Ajman United Arab Emirates 84.4 6 Dubai United Arab Emirates 83.9 7 Taipei Taiwan 83.3 8 Muscat Oman 81.3 9 Tampere Finland 79.6 10 Trondheim Norway 79 Top 5 Safest Cities in India (2026) India Rank Global Rank City State Safety Score 1 46 Mangaluru Karnataka 74.4 2 87 Ahmedabad Gujarat 68.5 3 106 Jaipur Rajasthan 65.3 4 123 Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 62.0 5 132 Thiruvananthapuram Kerala 61.0

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

TomTom Traffic Index 2025

♦ According to the latest TomTom Traffic Index 2025, Bengaluru was the second most congested city in the world in 2025. with an average speed of 16.6 km per hour, an average motorist spending 15 minutes to commute 4.2 km. TomTom is a Netherlands-based location technology firm. Bengaluru has been climbing the congestion ladder rapidly — it was the 6th most congested city in 2023, rose to 3rd in 2024, and has now surged to 2nd place in 2025. ♦ Mexico recorded the highest congestion levels globally. ♦ Pune was ranked fifth and was the second Indian city to feature in the global top 10 in terms of congestion.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

PV Sindhu

♦ PV Sindhu created badminton history on 22 January 2026 by becoming the first Indian shuttler to achieve 500 career wins in women's singles. She accomplished this milestone during the Indonesia Masters Super 500 tournament in Jakarta, defeating Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in the round of 16. ♦ With this victory, Sindhu has joined an elite group as only the sixth women's singles player ever to hit the 500-win mark. The exclusive club includes legends like Ratchanok Intanon, Tai Tzu Ying, Akane Yamaguchi, Carolina Marin, and Petya Nedelcheva. ♦ Her overall career record now stands at 500 wins in singles from 732 matches, delivering an impressive win rate of about 68.3%. On the BWF Tour specifically, she boasts 456 wins against 227 losses.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

Board of Peace

♦ U.S. President Donald Trump launched "Board of Peace" in Davos on 22 January 2026. This is a body for resolving international conflicts with a $1bn price tag for permanent membership. The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza after more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on the strip. ♦ Trump said the board would work in conjunction with the United Nations.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

East Coast Railway

♦ East Coast Railway (ECoR) introduced a humanoid robot "ASC ARJUN" at Visakhapatnam Railway Station under the aegis of the Railway Protection Force (RPF). This is the first of its kind in Indian Railways. This is a significant step towards using advanced technology for increasing passenger safety, security and service delivery. ♦ The humanoid robot, deployed as part of the RPF's modernization and digital transformation initiatives, is designed to supplement various railway operations, particularly in the areas of security, passenger assistance, crowd management, cleanliness monitoring, and safety awareness. ♦ The "ASC ARJUN" has several key functionalities and benefits. Such as Intrusion Detection, in which the robot can identify intruders using a Face Recognition System (FRS) and instantly alert RPF personnel through IoT-enabled alerts, ensuring rapid response and reduced detection time.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

Valmiki's Ramayana

♦ A rare 233-year-old Sanskrit manuscript of Valmiki's Ramayana has been gifted to the Ram Katha museum in Ayodhya, the Culture Ministry said on 21 January 2026. In a landmark cultural handover, Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Vice Chancellor of the Central Sanskrit University, presented the manuscript of the Valmikiramayanam (with the Tattvadipikatika) to Nripendra Misra, Chairman of the Executive Council of Prime Ministers Museum and Library. ♦ The manuscript, authored by Adi Kavi Valmiki with a classical commentary (tika) by Maheshvara Tirtha, is written in Sanskrit (in Devanagari script). ♦ The manuscript, previously loaned to Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, has now been permanently gifted to the Antarrashtriya Ram Katha Sangrahalaya (International Ram Katha Museum), Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams

♦ NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has retired from the space agency after 27 years of service. She completed three missions aboard the International Space Station, setting numerous human spaceflight records throughout her career. ♦ She logged 608 days in space, the second most for a NASA astronaut, and shares the sixth-longest single American spaceflight of 286 days with Butch Wilmore during NASA's Starliner and Crew-9 missions. ♦ She has also completed nine spacewalks, totalling 62 hours and 6 minutes, ranking as the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list. ♦ Williams first launched aboard space shuttle Discovery with STS-116 in December 2006 and returned aboard Atlantis with the STS-117 crew. In 2012, she lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a 127-day mission as part of Expedition 32/33 and went on to serve as space station commander for Expedition 33.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

SKOCH Award-2025

♦ The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has been conferred the SKOCH Award-2025 for its Cell Broadcast Solution. The Ministry of Communications said that the award was conferred at the 104th SKOCH Summit on the theme of Resourcing Viksit Bharat. ♦ C-DOT’s Cell Broadcast Solution is a disaster and emergency platform which brings disaster alert generation agencies, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for weather and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for disaster management, onto a single integrated unified platform. ♦ The SKOCH Award is given to individuals, projects, and institutions for outstanding work in improving governance and development, recognising excellence in sectors including finance, tech, health, and education. ♦ C-DOT is a research and development centre under the aegis of the Department of Telecommunications for telecommunication technologies.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace

♦ Mozambican rights activist and humanitarian Graca Machel was selected for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2025. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust announced this on 21 January 2026. ♦ The decision was taken by an international jury, chaired by former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, for her path-breaking work in education, health and nutrition, economic empowerment, and humanitarian work under difficult circumstances. ♦ The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development consists of an award of Rs 1 crore and a trophy with a citation. ♦ Graça Machel is a distinguished African politician and humanitarian whose life's work is rooted in the struggle for self-rule and the protection of human rights.

Jan 23, 2026 Current Affairs

Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

♦ The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the continuation of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) up to FY 2030-31 along with extension of funding support for promotional and developmental activities and gap funding. The purpose of the scheme is to ensure old-age income security for millions of low-income and unorganized-sector workers, enhance financial inclusion, and support India’s transition to a pensioned society. ♦ APY was launched on 9th May, 2015 with the objective of providing old-age income security to workers in the unorganised sector. ♦ APY offers a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs.1,000 to Rs.5,000 per month starting at age 60, based on contributions. ♦ As of 19th January, 2026, over 8.66 crore subscribers have been enrolled, making APY a cornerstone of India’s inclusive social security framework.

Verify it's really you

Posts