🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 21 MAY 2026

🔆 ECONOMY

📍 UN Cuts India’s 2026 GDP Growth Forecast
✅ United Nations reduced India’s 2026 GDP forecast from 6.6% to 6.4%
✅ Reason: global uncertainty & West Asia crisis
✅ India still among fastest-growing major economies 

📍 Index of Eight Core Industries Grows 1.7%
✅ ICI grew 1.7% in April 2026
✅ Highest weightage: Refinery Products (28.04%)
✅ Measures performance of 8 core industries 

🔆 STATES

📍 Arunachal Kiwi Mission Launched
✅ Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched ₹167 crore Arunachal Kiwi Mission
✅ Focus on cluster-based kiwi cultivation & value chain development
✅ Brand initiative: “Arunachal Organic Kiwi” 

📍 Delhi Launches ‘Hauslon ki Udaan’ Talent Hunt
✅ Delhi Government launched Hauslon ki Udaan 2026–27
✅ Budget allocation: ₹10 crore
✅ Youth aged 16–35 can participate 

📍 Delhi IGI Airport Air Train Project
✅ India’s first driverless airport air train planned at IGI Airport
✅ 7.7 km network connecting terminals & Aerocity
✅ Estimated cost: ₹2,000–4,000 crore 

🔆 NATIONAL

📍 Project Cheetah Reaches Major Milestone
✅ India’s cheetah population increased to 53
✅ Includes 33 cubs born in India
✅ Kuno National Park remains primary project base 

📍 India Notifies E30 Petrol Standards
✅ India notified standards for petrol blended with 30% ethanol
✅ Extends roadmap beyond current E20 target
✅ BIS also notified standards for E22, E25 & E27 fuels 

📍 Bharat Tex 2026 Mobile App Launched
✅ Ministry of Textiles launched Bharat Tex 2026 app
✅ Supports digital event management & networking
✅ Bharat Tex 2026 scheduled at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi 

🔆 INDIA & THE WORLD

📍 India Becomes Bangladesh’s Second Largest Trading Partner
✅ India surpassed the United States in Bangladesh trade rankings
✅ India accounted for 8.47% of Bangladesh’s total external trade
✅ China remains Bangladesh’s top trading partner 

📍 UK & Denmark Launch Renewable Energy Platform for India
✅ British International Investment & Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners launched $300 million “North Star” platform
✅ Focus on solar, wind, hybrid & storage projects in India
✅ Supports India’s clean energy transition goals 

📍 India-UAE Trade Crosses $100 Billion
✅ India-UAE bilateral trade crossed $100 billion under CEPA
✅ Target set at $200 billion by 2032 

🔆 AGREEMENTS & MoUs

📍 Bharat Forge to Establish Marine Gas Turbine Facility
✅ Bharat Forge signed MoU with Andhra Pradesh Government
✅ India’s first private-sector marine gas turbine facility to be set up in Visakhapatnam
✅ Supports Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence sector 

🔆 AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

📍 PM Modi Receives FAO Agricola Medal
✅ Narendra Modi received Agricola Medal 2026 from FAO in Rome
✅ Award recognises contribution to food security & sustainable agriculture 

🔆 IMPORTANT DAYS

📍 World Metrology Day – 20 May
✅ 2026 Theme: “Metrology: Building Trust in Policy Making” 

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 Google & Blackstone Launch AI Cloud Venture
✅ Google and Blackstone launched $5 billion AI cloud venture
✅ Venture based on Google’s TPU chips for AI workloads 

🔆 DEFENCE

📍 DRDO Successfully Tests ULPGM-V3 Missile
✅ Defence Research and Development Organisation tested indigenous ULPGM-V3 missile
✅ Supports both air-to-ground & air-to-air modes
✅ Range: up to 10 km 

📍 Exercise PRAGATI 2026 Begins in Meghalaya
✅ Multilateral military exercise PRAGATI 2026 commenced at Umroi, Meghalaya
✅ Participation from 12 friendly nations including Bhutan, Nepal & Vietnam
✅ PRAGATI stands for Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the Indian Ocean Region 

#CurrentAffairs

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Polity shorts notes

Ancient , Mediaeval history, geography, economy CLICK HERE

Imp

Very Important SC Judgments:
1. Right to Digital Access (2025) → Digital inclusion as part of dignity
2. Menstrual Hygiene Case (2026) → Health, dignity, and bodily autonomy
3. Passive Euthanasia follow-up rulings (2025–26) → End-of-life dignity reinforced
4. Maternity Leave / Reproductive Rights ruling (2025) → Reproductive autonomy under Article 21

Important Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Red fort trials

Public Financial Management System (PFMS):
1. The Public Financial Management System (PFMS) is a web-based online financial management platform developed by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
2. It is used to track, monitor, and manage government fund flows from the Central Government to States, districts, and beneficiaries.
Key Features:
• Real-time tracking of government expenditure
• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to beneficiaries
• Integration with banks and government schemes
• Ensures transparency and reduces leakages
• Provides financial reports and accountability data

MPPSC prelims result

🔆 CURRENT AFFAIRS – 22 MAY 2026

🔆 STATES

📍 Kerala Creates Dedicated AI Portfolio
✅ Kerala became first Indian state with cabinet-level Artificial Intelligence portfolio
✅ AI placed under Industries & Commerce Department
✅ Focus on AI-driven governance and innovation 

📍 Haryana Launches ShramMitra App
✅ Digital employment platform connecting workers and employers
✅ Functions as electronic employment exchange
✅ Developed by Haryana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board 

🔆 NATIONAL

📍 Ayush Anudan Portal Launched
✅ AYUSH Minister Prataprao Jadhav launched portal in New Delhi
✅ Enhances transparency in grant management
✅ Developed under Ayush Grid initiative 

📍 CBI Launches AI-Based ‘ABHAY’ Helpbot
✅ ABHAY stands for Authentication of Your Notice
✅ Helps citizens verify authenticity of CBI notices
✅ Designed to combat digital arrest and fake notice scams 

📍 Mission ‘Coffees of Nagaland’ Launched
✅ Launched by Jyotiraditya Scindia
✅ Outlay: ₹175 crore
✅ Aim: Develop Nagaland as premium specialty coffee hub 

🔆 INDIA & THE WORLD

📍 India–Italy Relations Elevated
✅ India and Italy upgraded ties to “Special Strategic Partnership”
✅ Bilateral trade target: €20 billion by 2029
✅ 2027 declared as India–Italy Year of Culture and Tourism 

🔆 AGREEMENTS & MoUs

📍 Tata Power & Bhutan Sign Clean Energy MoU
✅ Tata Power and Bhutan’s DGPC signed agreement
✅ Target: Develop 5,000 MW clean energy capacity in Bhutan
✅ Supports renewable energy workforce development 

🔆 AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

📍 UNESCO–L’Oréal Women in Science Awards 2026
✅ Five women scientists honoured globally
✅ Award recognises outstanding scientific contributions by women researchers 

📍 International Booker Prize 2026
✅ Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King won for Taiwan Travelogue
✅ First Mandarin Chinese novel to win the award 

📍 BWSSB Gets Global Recognition
✅ Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board ranked among world’s top five water utilities
✅ Recognised in three categories at Global Water Summit 2026, Madrid 

🔆 BOOKS & AUTHORS

📍 ‘Better Never Stops’ Released
✅ Former Federal Bank CEO Shyam Srinivasan launched leadership book Better Never Stops 

🔆 RANKS & REPORTS

📍 NITI Aayog Releases R&D Report
✅ Report: Ease of Doing Research & Development in India
✅ India’s GERD stands at around 0.65% of GDP
✅ Recommended increasing GERD to 2% within 4–5 years 

🔆 IMPORTANT DAYS

📍 International Day for Women in Maritime – 18 May
✅ Theme 2026: “From Policy to Practice: Advancing Gender Equality for Maritime Excellence” 

📍 Anti-Terrorism Day – 21 May
✅ Observed across India in memory of former PM Rajiv Gandhi 

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 World’s First AI-Designed Gene Editor Developed in India
✅ ICAR-CRRI developed Plant-OpenCRISPR1 (POC1)
✅ World’s first AI-designed genome editing platform for crops
✅ Developed using rice as model crop 

📍 Sweden Joins India’s Shukrayaan Mission
✅ Sweden to contribute scientific instruments for Venus mission
✅ Shukrayaan expected to launch in 2028
✅ Focus on studying Venusian atmosphere and plasma interactions 

🔆 DEFENCE

📍 Tonbo Imaging Secures Indian Navy Contract
✅ Contract awarded under ADITI 3.0 framework
✅ Focus on High Power Microwave (HPM) directed-energy system
✅ Supported by iDEX and Defence Innovation Organisation 

📍 INS Sanghmitra Launched
✅ First Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel launched by GRSE
✅ Built under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category
✅ Named after Emperor Ashoka’s daughter Sanghamitra 

📍 Sqn Ldr Saanya Creates History
✅ First woman officer in IAF to earn CAT-A Qualified Flying Instructor status
✅ CAT-A is the highest instructional qualification in the Indian Air Force 

#CurrentAffairs

🔆 Saptaparni Cave

📍 Location & Meaning
✅ Also known as Sapta-parni guha / Sattapaṇṇi guhā → means “Seven-leaves cave.”
✅ Situated about 2 km southwest of Rajgir (Bihar), embedded in a rocky hill.

📍 Historical & Religious Significance
✅ Considered the site of the First Buddhist Council held soon after Gautama Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana.
✅ Tradition holds that Buddha spent some time here before his death.

📍 Role in Preservation of Buddhist Teachings
✅ A council of hundreds of monks gathered to compile and preserve Buddha’s teachings.
✅ Ananda (Buddha’s cousin) was entrusted with reciting discourses (Suttas) from memory → beginning with the phrase “Thus have I heard…”
✅ Upali recited the Vinaya (disciplinary rules for Bhikshus).
✅ Since Buddha did not write down his teachings, this event laid the foundation of the oral tradition of Buddhism.

📍 Significance for History & Culture
✅ Marks the institutionalisation of Buddhist doctrine and monastic discipline.
✅ Important pilgrimage and archaeological site linked to early Buddhist councils.

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