12th JANUARY 2026 ENGLISH TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF TNPSC SHOUTERS
Retail inflation rises to 1.33%
- Due to the increase in prices of essential commodities, including vegetables, retail inflation rose to 1.33% in December 2025, the highest in three months. Inflation was 0.71% in November. The previous highest level was 1.44% in September.
- Food inflation, calculated based on the Consumer Price Index, remained negative at -2.71% for the 7th consecutive month, although it rose from -3.91% in November.
- The National Statistical Office, while releasing the Consumer Price Index data, stated that the increase in overall inflation and food inflation in December 2025 was mainly due to the increase in inflation of vegetables, meat and fish, eggs, spices, and pulses.
- In December, retail inflation remained below the Reserve Bank of India's lower limit for the fourth consecutive month.
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted a test of a third-generation, high-performance anti-tank missile capable of hitting moving targets. The test was conducted on January 11, 2026, at the KK Ranges in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, by the Defence Research and Development Laboratory of DRDO in Hyderabad.
- The missile was developed with the assistance of institutions including the Imarat Research Centre in Hyderabad, the Defence Laboratory in Jodhpur, Bharat Dynamics Limited, and Bharat Electronics.
- The PSLV-C62 rocket, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, carried the Anvisha (EOS-N1) Earth observation satellite and 17 smaller satellites from India and other countries.
- The rocket launched as planned, but deviated from its trajectory exactly 8 minutes into the flight, shocking ISRO scientists. Preliminary investigations into the failure have revealed that a technical malfunction in the rocket's third stage (PS3 stage) was the cause.
- The satellites, which were supposed to be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 505 km, failed to reach the specified height due to insufficient thrust. Consequently, all 18 satellites on board the rocket re-entered the atmosphere due to Earth's gravity and were destroyed upon falling into the Pacific Ocean.
- This is the second failure for the PSLV rocket in the last 8 months, following a similar technical malfunction that caused the failure of the PSLV C61 rocket launched last year.
