Monthly current affairs for May 2026

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (MoCAF&PD), has notified specifications for E22, E25, E27, and E30 fuel blends. These specifications set standards for petrol blended with up to 30% ethanol, extending beyond the existing E20 blend target.

The new norms have been established under the standard ‘IS 19850:2026’ for ‘E22, E25, E27 and E30 Fuel, Admixture of Anhydrous Ethanol and Motor Gasoline for Usage in Positive Ignition Engine Powered Vehicles’.

The DRDO has successfully completed the final deliverable configuration development trials of the indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3. The trials were conducted in both Air-to-Ground and Air-to-Air modes at the National Open Area Range (NOAR) near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.

The ULPGM-V3 is a lightweight (12.5 kg) fire-and-forget missile with an extended standoff range of up to 10 km. It is to be noted that the missile is a upgrade over its predecessor V1 (free-fall) and V2 (propulsion-added) configurations.

The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has launched the official online “Investors Support” portal.

The portal serves as a single-window digital platform designed to streamline communication and enhance confidence for global and domestic companies entering the semiconductor ecosystem of India. The platform also enables project tracking by providing comprehensive overviews of approved ventures under the national “Semicon India Programme”.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) has completed its first-ever all-women international mountaineering expedition to Mount (Mt) Everest, the highest peak in the world at 8,848 m. The 14-member team scaled the summit through the South Col Route from Nepal.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF), a Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has also successfully scaled Mt Everest through its inaugural all-women expedition named ‘Mission Vande Mataram’. This expedition was organised as a part of its Diamond Jubilee celebrations, marking 60 years of service.

Group Captain KK Venugopal (Retired) from the Executive Group of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has become the first Indian test pilot to be elected as a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) in the United States of America (USA).

It is to be noted that he was previously decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal (VSM) in 2004.

Karnataka Grameena Bank (KGB) has won the National Award from the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). The award is given recognising its outstanding performance in subscriber enrolment under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme.

The Ministry of Textiles has launched the “Bharat Tex 2026 Event Application” to facilitate AI-driven networking and business matchmaking for the upcoming “Bharat Tex 2026” exhibition. The exhibition is scheduled to be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

The application features an AI-powered smart assistant designed to provide 24x7 conversational support for event schedules, venue details, directions, and other related queries.

The RBI has imposed regulatory restrictions on the Uttar Pradesh-based Nagar Sahakari Bank Ltd due to deteriorating financial conditions and supervisory concerns. Under these restrictions, a withdrawal cap of ₹10,000 per depositor has been placed on all savings, current, and other accounts for 6 months.

Skydo has secured in-principle approval to operate as a Payment Service Provider (PSP) within the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The Government of India (GoI) has approved Roorkee-based Skymap Pharmaceuticals Private Ltd as the strategic buyer for the 100% disinvestment of Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd (IMPCL).

Established in July 1978, IMPCL is a profitable Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) that manufactures and distributes standardised Ayurvedic and Unani medicines.

Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, has conferred the Order of Mapungubwe, the highest civilian honour of the nation, on Indian-origin professors.

Salim Abdool Karim received the award under the Gold category, while Keertan Dheda was awarded under the Silver category. The honours were given recognising their exceptional contributions to the fields of medical science, epidemiology, and health policy.

According to the “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2026” report released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), the GDP growth of India for FY27 is revised down to 6.4% from the previous projection of 6.6%. The growth forecast for FY28 is also reduced to 6.6%.

Union Minister Virendra Kumar has launched the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) Portal and AJAY Mobile App to digitise and strengthen the implementation of Scheduled Caste (SC) welfare schemes across India.

The unified digital platform, introduced by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, eliminates paper-based workflows to ensure real-time reporting, enhanced transparency, and accountable service delivery.

The aerospace division of Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) has signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to establish the first private-sector Marine Gas Turbine (MGT) Repair, Overhaul, and Indigenous Development Complex of India in Visakhapatnam.

The facility will span 80 acres within the AP Defence Manufacturing Corridor developed by the aerospace division of BFL. The complex will be co-located with the Naval Dockyard, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Eksila, and the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) Headquarters in Visakhapatnam.

Bharat Singh Chauhan has been re-elected as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Chess Association (CCA) for the 2026–2030 term. The re-election took place during the Annual General Body Meeting of the organization held in Wasakaduwa, Sri Lanka.

It is to be noted that the CCA has announced the launch of a new tournament, the “Commonwealth School Chess Championship”, with its inaugural edition scheduled to be hosted in Malaysia in October 2026.

The UK-based British International Investment (BII) has partnered with Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to launch “North Star”, a $300 million Renewable Energy (RE) platform to support the clean energy transition of India.

Under the partnership, BII and CIP, through the Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II), will each invest up to $150 million in the platform to support solar, wind, hybrid, and storage RE projects in India. The platform is projected to generate over 4 million Megawatt-hours (MWh) of clean energy annually while preventing 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has secured a position among the top five global water utilities across three major categories at the 2026 Global Water Awards. The awards were presented during the Global Water Summit 2026 in Madrid, Spain.

It is to be noted that BWSSB is the sole Indian water utility to achieve top-five global recognition in three distinct categories, namely “Utility of the Year 2026”, “Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG-6) Champion of the year 2026”, and “Water Project of the Year 2026”.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia has virtually launched the ‘Coffee of Nagaland’ mission worth ₹175 crore at Sanchar Bhavan, New Delhi, to promote coffee cultivation and strengthen the livelihoods of farmers.

Under the initiative, two pilot coffee clusters have been identified: Tuophema village in Kohima district (for Arabica coffee) and Ghotovi village in Niuland district (for Robusta coffee).

Additionally, a pilot project worth ₹49.48 crore, titled ‘Cluster-Based Coffee Value Chain Development in Nagaland’, was launched to establish an end-to-end coffee value chain from cultivation to marketing.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has organised the largest biomedical innovation and technology transfer event of India, titled “Medical Innovations Patent Mitra: Innovators-to-Industry (I2I) Connect”, in New Delhi.

The event was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Prataprao Jadhav to launch a collaborative platform for the development and commercialisation of public health technologies.

During the event, a total of 41 public health technologies, including vaccines and diagnostics, were transferred to industry partners. The ICMR also transferred inactivated Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) and Chandipura virus biomaterials to support vaccine development and research.

Under the BRICS 2026 Chairship of India, the inaugural BRICS Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting was held virtually to advance the tourism cooperation agenda under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

The second TWG Meeting is scheduled to be held in August 2026 in Jaipur, Rajasthan.