Current Affairs (January 2025 - September 2026) - Revision Sheet
Current affairs carry the largest weight in the GA section (15-20 questions). Focus on banking and economy first, then appointments, awards, summits and sports. Each item below was checked against news reports; month and year are given in brackets.
1. Banking and economy
| Event | Key facts |
|---|---|
| RBI policy (Oct 2026) | Repo raised 25 bps to 5.50%; stance 'calibrated tightening'; first hike since Feb 2023; SDF 5.25%, MSF/Bank Rate 5.75% |
| RBI surplus (May 2026) | Record Rs 2.87 lakh crore for 2025-26 (vs Rs 2.69 lakh crore) |
| Inflation target (Mar 2026) | 4% (2%-6%) retained for April 2026 - March 2031 |
| RBI Deputy Governor (May 2026) | Rohit Jain appointed, succeeding T. Rabi Sankar |
| UPI record (Aug 2026) | 24.51 billion transactions worth about Rs 29.82 lakh crore |
| RRB amalgamation (May 2025) | One State, One RRB: 43 to 28 RRBs |
| SFB PSL norm (Jun 2025) | Target cut from 75% to 60% of ANBC from 2025-26 |
| GST 2.0 (Sep 2025) | 5% and 18% slabs plus 40% special rate, from 22 Sep 2025 |
| Labour Codes (Nov 2025) | Four codes in force from 21 Nov 2025 |
| 8th Pay Commission (Oct-Nov 2025) | Chair Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai |
| VB-G RAM G Act (Dec 2025) | Replaces MGNREGA; 125 days; effective 1 July 2026 |
| New GDP and CPI series (Feb 2026) | GDP base 2022-23; CPI base 2024 |
| Union Budget 2026-27 (Feb 2026) | Fiscal deficit 4.3%; capex Rs 12.2 lakh crore; Banking for Viksit Bharat committee |
2. Appointments
| Post | Person | When |
|---|---|---|
| SEBI Chairman | Tuhin Kanta Pandey | March 2025 |
| IRDAI Chairman | Ajay Seth | September 2025 |
| 15th Vice-President | C.P. Radhakrishnan (452 votes) | September 2025 |
| 52nd CJI | Justice B.R. Gavai | May 2025 |
| 53rd CJI | Justice Surya Kant (till 9 Feb 2027) | November 2025 |
| Pope | Leo XIV (Robert Prevost, first US-born pope) | May 2025 |
| West Bengal CM | Suvendu Adhikari (first BJP CM of the state) | May 2026 |
3. Summits and conferences
- 18th BRICS Summit: Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, 12-13 September 2026 (India's chairship).
- 17th BRICS Summit: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 2025).
- G20 2025: Johannesburg, 22-23 November 2025 - first G20 summit in Africa; USA holds the 2026 presidency (summit planned in Miami).
- COP30: Belem, Brazil (November 2025). COP31: Antalya, Turkiye, 9-20 November 2026, with Australia leading negotiations.
4. Awards
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Nobel Economics 2025 | Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt |
| Nobel Peace 2025 | Maria Corina Machado (Venezuela) |
| International Booker 2025 | 'Heart Lamp' - Banu Mushtaq, tr. Deepa Bhasthi (Kannada) |
| Booker Prize 2025 | 'Flesh' - David Szalay |
| International Booker 2026 | 'Taiwan Travelogue' - Yang Shuang-zi, tr. Lin King (first Mandarin winner) |
| Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2023) | Mohanlal - presented September 2025 |
| Padma Vibhushan 2026 | Five awardees incl. Dharmendra and V.S. Achuthanandan (both posthumous) |
5. Sports
| Event | Result |
|---|---|
| ICC Champions Trophy 2025 (Mar 2025) | India beat New Zealand, Dubai - third title |
| Asia Cup 2025 (Sep 2025) | India beat Pakistan, Dubai; PoM Tilak Varma |
| Women's ODI World Cup 2025 (Nov 2025) | India beat South Africa by 52 runs, Navi Mumbai - maiden title |
| Men's T20 World Cup 2026 (Mar 2026) | India beat New Zealand by 96 runs, Ahmedabad - third title; PoT Sanju Samson |
| IPL 2026 (May 2026) | RCB beat Gujarat Titans - second consecutive title |
| Women's T20 World Cup 2026 (Jul 2026) | Australia beat England at Lord's - seventh title |
| FIFA World Cup 2026 (Jul 2026) | Spain beat Argentina 1-0 (aet); first 48-team World Cup |
| Commonwealth Games 2026, Glasgow (Jul-Aug 2026) | India 4th with 39 medals (13 gold); Australia top; next CWG Ahmedabad 2030 |
| Asian Games 2026, Aichi-Nagoya (Sep-Oct 2026) | India 4th with 85 medals (21 gold); China top |
| FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 (Jul 2025) | Divya Deshmukh beat Koneru Humpy; became India's 88th GM |
6. Science and space
- Axiom-4 (June 2025): Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian to visit the ISS and the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma (1984).
Revise this sheet together with the RBI and Budget sheets: one news item (for example the October 2026 repo hike) can be asked as a current affairs question or as an RBI question.