Daily Current Affairs Quiz: January 18-19, 2026

Notes:
Indian scientists discovered a rare subterranean amphibian species named Gegeneophis valmiki in the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. The species is named after Maharshi Valmiki Mandir located near the discovery site. It belongs to the genus Gegeneophis, commonly known as blind caecilians. Caecilians are limbless, worm-like amphibians that live underground with eyes hidden under skin and bone. They do not croak like frogs, making field identification very difficult. The Western Ghats host 26 endemic caecilians, and this is the first Gegeneophis discovery in over a decade.

Notes:
Southbound ship traffic will resume in Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait after a tanker recently had engine failure. The Dardanelles Strait is a narrow but very important waterway in northwestern Turkey. It links the Aegean Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea) to the Sea of Marmara. It separates Asia (east) from Europe (west). It is named after the ancient city of Dardanus, it was once called Hellespont, meaning “Helle’s sea”.

Notes:
Recently, the CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative trained over 1.90 lakh individuals through more than 5,200 skill-based programmes. It is a flagship national programme of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It aims to bridge the gap between scientific research, industry needs, and employable skills. The initiative integrates skill development with science and technology using CSIR’s research infrastructure. It offers inclusive access to students, researchers, professionals, school dropouts, ITI diploma holders, farmers, and rural communities.

Notes:
Recently, researchers at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bengaluru, developed a deep-learning tool called Disobind. Disobind predicts how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) bind to their partner proteins. Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) are shapeshifting proteins without fixed structure, crucial for cell signalling, gene regulation, and protein movement. Their flexibility makes them hard to study using traditional structural biology methods. Disobind uses protein language models trained on millions of protein sequences.

Notes:
Recently, phytoplasma-induced root wilt disease has severely damaged traditional coconut-growing areas in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. It is caused by phytoplasma bacteria and is one of the most devastating coconut palm diseases. It was first identified over 150 years ago in Erattupetta, Kerala, it is classified as a non-fatal disease. The disease does not kill palms but drastically reduces their productivity. It spreads through insect vectors, wind movement, and continuous coconut plantations. Spread is faster in sandy, sandy loam, and alluvial soils and is worsened by erratic temperatures and whitefly pests.