Recent Current Affairs related to New Delhi

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, through the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), has launched a premium brand named “RISA - Timeless Tribal” for tribal textiles, embroideries, and handicrafts. An exclusive RISA store was inaugurated at the Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan in New Delhi.

The initiative aims to establish a brand identity for tribal products, strengthen market linkages for tribal artisans, facilitate design development, and promote tribal heritage in domestic and international markets.

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) has selected 10 institutions under its Convergence Research Centres of Excellence (CoE) programme. The initiative aims to promote multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to address complex societal challenges.

The selected institutes include IIT Gandhinagar (Gujarat), IIT Madras, IIT Dharwad (Karnataka), and IIT Kanpur. These centres are eligible for funding support of up to ₹25 crore for projects with a maximum duration of 5 years.

Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh has inaugurated India’s first ‘SkyCast’ system at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. With this, India has become the 19th country globally to implement this advanced integrated aviation weather monitoring system.

Developed under ‘Mission Mausam’, the system aims to enhance aviation safety by facilitating safer take-offs and landings. It integrates advanced atmospheric sensors to monitor atmospheric conditions up to an altitude of 3 km. A second facility is planned to be established at the Jewar Airport in Uttar Pradesh.

International Museum Day:

Day – May 18

Theme 2026 – “Museums Uniting a Divided World”

Observed by – International Council of Museums (ICOM)

Observed since – 1977

Union Minister Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the 68th Session of the Governing Body Meeting (GBM) of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. During the session, member countries reviewed the progress under the ‘APO Vision 2030’ framework, which focuses on productivity-led transformation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The APO National Award for Productivity Advocates was presented to Ashok Panjwani, while the APO National Award for Productivity Technical Expert was conferred on Bakul Limbasiya.

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.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the Department of Consumer Affairs, has organized the 35th Plenary and Working Groups meetings of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 20 / Subcommittee (SC) 14. The meetings for the ‘Space Systems and Operations’ subcommittee were hosted for the first time in India at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

The event saw the participation of 131 international delegates from 13 countries. It is to be noted that the ISO/TC 20/SC 14 is responsible for developing international standards for space systems to ensure safety and sustainability in global space activities.

India has hosted the 10th edition of the Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD-10) in New Delhi under the theme “Indian Ocean Region in a Transforming World”. The event was organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Secretariat.

India holds the chairship of the IORA for the 2025-2027 period. The inaugural session of the IOD-10 was addressed by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and ministerial representatives from Mauritius and Yemen. During the session, Sarbananda Sonowal highlighted that the participation of women in the maritime sector of India has increased by 340% since 2020.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a notification to empower the Principal Bench of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) in New Delhi to function as the National Appellate Authority for Advance Rulings (NAAAR). The notification will come into effect in April 2026, at which point the President of GSTAT will serve as the Presiding Officer for the NAAAR.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has released its annual report titled “Crime in India 2024”. India registered 58.86 lakh cognisable crimes in 2024, which is a 6% reduction compared to the 62.41 lakh cases in 2023.

Of the total, 35.44 lakh cases were filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), while 23.41 lakh cases were under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

The national crime rate (cases per lakh population) decreased to 418.9 in 2024, from 448.3 in 2023. Among 19 metropolitan cities, Delhi reported the highest volume of cognisable offences with 2.75 lakh cases, although the city recorded the lowest charge-sheeting rate.

Annalena Baerbock, the 80th President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), has visited India at the invitation of Union Minister S Jaishankar. The visit aimed to reinforce the commitment of India to engagement with the UN.

During the visit, the UNGA President paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi. She also held a high-level bilateral meeting with the Minister S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House to discuss various global issues.

Union Minister CR Patil has launched the 9th edition of the India International Water Week (IIWW-2026) at Shram Shakti Bhavan in New Delhi. During the launch, he noted that over 60 lakh artificial recharge and water conservation structures have been created under the initiative. The Government of India (GoI) has set a target to establish 1 crore such structures by May 2026.

Union Minister S Jaishankar has launched the logo, theme, and website for the 4th India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV). The summit, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi, is being organised in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC).

The theme of the summit is “IA SPIRIT: India-Africa Strategic Partnership for Innovation, Resilience, and Inclusive Transformation.”