🔆 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.

#prelims
#art_and_culture

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PLI SCHEME

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What is loss & damage?
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🔆 Important Rivers of Europe

📍 Volga
✅ Basin Countries: Russia
✅ Source: Valdai Hills, Russia
✅ Mouth: Caspian Sea

📍 Danube
✅ Basin Countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova (Germany HAS CRUMBS)
✅ Source: Black Forest, Germany
✅ Mouth: Black Sea

📍 Ural
✅ Basin Countries: Russia, Kazakhstan
✅ Source: Ural Mountains, Russia
✅ Mouth: Caspian Sea

📍 Dnieper
✅ Basin Countries: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine (RUB)
✅ Source: Valdai Hills, Russia
✅ Mouth: Black Sea

📍 Dniester
✅ Basin Countries: Ukraine, Moldova
✅ Source: Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine
✅ Mouth: Black Sea

📍 Tiber
✅ Basin Countries: Italy
✅ Source: Apennines, Italy
✅ Mouth: Tyrrhenian Sea

​🌟 Best of Luck for UPSC Prelims 2026! 🌟
​Dear Aspirants,
​Wishing you all the very best for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination tomorrow! You have put in countless hours of hard work, and now is the time to trust your preparation and perform to the best of your abilities.

​Please ensure you have everything ready today so you can wake up stress-free tomorrow. Do not leave these arrangements for the last moment!

​📋 Pre-Exam Checklist (Pack These Today)

✅​Admit Card (Clear printout)
✅​Original Identity Card (As mentioned on your Admit Card)
✅​2 Black Ballpoint Pens (Strictly for filling the OMR sheet)
✅​Passport-Size Photographs (Keep a couple handy, just in case)
✅​Transparent Water Bottle

​🧠 Strategic Essentials

✅​Bring your brain, blessings, and luck!
✅​Leave your emotions at home: Do not let your heart dictate your answers. Avoid guessing out of impulse to protect yourself from negative marking!
​💡 Last-Minute Advice
​Let go of regret: Don’t worry about what you couldn’t study or what you could have done differently. This moment is not for guilt; it is for cherishing how far you've come.
✅​Stay positive: Your efforts are countless. Believe in yourself.
✅​Sleep adequately: A well-rested mind is your sharpest weapon in the exam hall.
✅​Eat healthy: Keep your diet light and nutritious today.

​Pro-Tip: A short meditation session today or tomorrow morning will be a great add-on to calm your nerves!

​Our best wishes are always with you. May the Almighty bless your hard work and fulfill your aspirations this time.
​Go give it your best shot!

Air pollution

Wildlife protection act 1972

Green revolution