EduTips Daily CA Bullet Points (18 January 2026)

1. 🇮🇳 National

• SC Ruling on EWS Seats: The Supreme Court mandated that private unaided non-minority schools must reserve 25% of entry-level seats for students from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
• India’s First Solar ATM: Telangana Grameena Bank (TGB) launched "TGB on Wheels," India’s first solar-powered mobile ATM van to enhance rural banking.
• NAMO Book Fest: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh released the books 'Gen V Bano' and 'Mahatma' at India’s inaugural NAMO Book Fest.
• Major Ports Cultural Meet: The 25th All India Major Ports Cultural Meet was hosted by Paradip Port.

2. 🌍 International

• Yemen Leadership Change: Shayaa Mohsin Zindani has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Yemen following the resignation of Salem bin Buraik.
• High Seas Treaty: The landmark High Seas Treaty officially takes effect, establishing new legal frameworks for ocean conservation beyond national jurisdictions.
• EU-Mercosur Pact: The European Union and the Mercosur bloc signed a historic free trade agreement after over two decades of negotiations.
• Uganda Elections: President Yoweri Museveni secured his 7th term in office amidst opposition protests over the poll results.

3. 💰 Economy

• India at Davos 2026: India marked its largest-ever presence at the World Economic Forum in Davos with a record participation of 10 Indian states.
• Digital Infrastructure Hub: Global tech giants (Google, Microsoft, Amazon) have committed a combined $67 billion toward India’s AI and data center infrastructure.
• Forex Reserves: China’s US debt holdings hit a 17-year low as the country continues to shift its foreign exchange reserves toward gold.

4. 🗓️ Date’s importance

• National Thesaurus Day: Observed on January 18th to honor Peter Mark Roget, the author of Roget’s Thesaurus, born on this day in 1779.
• History (1886): Modern Field Hockey was born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
• History (1919): The Paris Peace Conference opened at Versailles to set the terms for the end of World War I.

5. 👱‍♂️👩‍🦳 Person of the day

• Pawan Kalyan: The actor-politician became the first Indian to receive the rare Fifth Dan rank in the Japanese martial art tradition of Kenjutsu from Sogo Budo Kanri Kai.

6. 🏅 Sports

• MS Dhoni: Named the Goodwill Ambassador for the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour 2026, aiming to promote professional cycling in India.
• Khelo India Beach Games 2026: Karnataka emerged as the overall champion; the event was held at Ghoghla Beach, Diu.
• Kho-Kho World Cup: The first-ever Kho-Kho World Cup is being organized in New Delhi.

7. 🏆 Awards

• Theodore Roosevelt Award: Posthumously awarded to NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo by the NCAA for his humanitarian work in global health.
• Sukhatme National Award: The Government of India invited nominations for this prestigious award to recognize lifetime contributions to the field of Statistics.

8. ⭐️ Other important significance

• World’s Oldest River: The Finke River in Australia was officially recognized as the world’s oldest flowing river system.
• RBS-15 Missile: Sweden’s Saab demonstrated the capability of its RBS-15 fire-and-forget missile to target components of the S-400 air defense system.

9. 📚 Word of the day

• Thesaurus: (Noun) A book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts.
• Usage: "Using a thesaurus can help aspirants find precise vocabulary for the UPSC essay paper."