Friday, 15 May 2026ARCHIVE

Daily Current Affairs

Bundle archived on Friday, 15 May 2026 for SSC, Banking, UPSC, Railway and Defence — bilingual headlines, key facts, mnemonics, exam-track MCQs and flashcards.

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Rupee hits record low ₹95.80/$ on May 13, 2026 (₹95.86 on May 14); FII outflows ₹1,959 cr/day, forex reserves at $690.69 bn after ~$38 bn RBI intervention; gold/silver duty hiked 6% → 15% to stem capital flight

On **May 13, 2026** the Indian rupee plunged to a **record intraday low of 95.80 per US dollar**; it slipped further to a fresh record low of **95.86** in early trade on **May 14, 2026**. The depreciation is being driven by a textbook **'c…

Daily Current Affairs

Rupee hits record low ₹95.80/$ on May 13, 2026 (₹95.86 on May 14); FII outflows ₹1,959 cr/day, forex reserves at $690.69 bn after ~$38 bn RBI intervention; gold/silver duty hiked 6% → 15% to stem capital flight

science-tech

IP Catalyst launched by MeitY (May 12, 2026) at India Habitat Centre with platform cipie.in; C-DAC Pune implements; targets Electronics & IT — the sector behind a 52% rise in India's record 1,43,729 patent filings in FY 2025–26

India chairs CCDB (April 2026 – April 2028) — the technical heart of the global IT-security certification treaty (CCRA), confirmed at the Tokyo Q1 meeting; India has been a Certificate Authorising Nation since Sept 2013

PCOS renamed PMOS in The Lancet (May 12, 2026) after 11-year, 22,000-respondent global consensus — reframes a 'reproductive' diagnosis as a multisystem endocrine-metabolic disorder affecting ~170 million women worldwide; AIIMS Delhi flags adoption in India

INCOIS installs second Coastal Flood Monitoring System near Kollam to forecast Kallakkadal swell-surge flooding on Kerala's pre-monsoon coast

IMD launches block-level monsoon forecast for 3,196 blocks across 15 states + 1 UT — AI-augmented, four-week-ahead, built with IITM and NCMRWF for rainfed farmers

economy

Gold/silver import duty raised 6%→15% and a 100 kg AA-scheme cap imposed: India tightens bullion to defend the rupee as FY26 gold imports hit USD 71.98 bn (+24.08% YoY)

MSMEs power grassroots India: 31% of GDP, 32.8 crore jobs, 48.5% of exports — Udyam crosses 7.9 crore registrations

MSP hike for 14 Kharif crops for MY 2026-27: sunflower +₹622, cotton +₹557, paddy ₹2,441/qt; total payout ₹2.6 lakh crore

Maize overtakes sugarcane as India's No. 1 ethanol feedstock: 182 crore litres from maize in H1 of ESY 2025-26; total ethanol supply ~515 crore litres (49% of 1,059-cr-litre contract); sugarcane-based 182 cr litres (62% of its contracted share); SCJ 130 cr + BHM 45 cr + CHM 7 cr.

₹41,534 crore P&K subsidy cleared for Kharif 2026 (Apr 1–Sep 30); ₹4,317 cr above last year as India pushes nano-urea, natural farming and DBT to fix a 34:10:1 NPK distortion vs ideal 4:2:1

FACT commences DAP production at Udyogamandal (Kochi) under NBS scheme from 15 May 2026; government permission was granted on 24 April 2026

Forex reserves slip, rupee crosses 95/$ and PM Modi pitches household austerity — gold and crude imports drive the squeeze

RBI keeps buying gold, citizens told to stop — the sovereign-vs-household paradox and the West Asia oil shock behind PM Modi's appeal

polity

SC's 9-judge bench reserves verdict in Sabarimala reference on Article 25 vs. gender equality; Centre argues Article 25(1) protects religious freedom, not gender equality

ECI launches SIR Phase III in 16 states and 3 UTs; Odisha drive runs 30 May – 28 June 2026, covering 33.4 million voters across 45,255 booths.

ECI rolls out SIR Phase-III: 36.73 crore electors across 16 states + 3 UTs to be verified door-to-door by 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers, with 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents from political parties; HP, J&K and Ladakh kept out — qualifying dates 1 July 2026 / 1 October 2026.

NTA cancels NEET-UG 2026 over paper leak; CBI probe ordered, re-exam set for June 21 — credibility crisis tests the 2024 anti-cheating Act

Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu CM — TVK-led coalition ends 59 years of Dravidian bipolar politics and revives the actor-to-CM tradition of MGR and Jayalalithaa

Supreme Court: KG-D6 gas supply from Andhra to UP is an interstate sale under CST Act § 3(a); UP VAT not applicable

Rathindra Bose elected unopposed as Speaker of 18th West Bengal Assembly; first ever from North Bengal — BJP holds 207 of 294 seats, CM Suvendu Adhikari proposed his name

MP High Court declares Bhojshala a Saraswati temple; quashes 2003 ASI order permitting namaz at the disputed Dhar complex.

Tamil Nadu's first hung Assembly since 1952 puts the Governor, Sarkaria Commission norms and S.R. Bommai principles back in the spotlight

Data standardisation as governance reform — NDGFP, IDMO and why isolated ministry databases cost India fiscal and policy efficiency

international-relations

2026 Iran War tests India's strategic autonomy: Hormuz closure on Apr 19 spikes LPG by ₹60/cylinder, IAF finalises ₹3.25 lakh crore RFP for 114 Rafales in May 2026, U.S.–India trade still crosses $130 billion

Modi begins five-nation tour in UAE: oil-reserve and LPG pacts inked with India's 4th-largest crude source and a federation of seven emirates founded in 1971

India's strategic autonomy in a multipolar disorder: balancing US, China and Russia while diversifying defence (BrahMos + Mirage 2000 + SCALP) and trade (CEPAs + FTAs) — anchored in Atmanirbharta

Australia outlaws neo-Nazi NSN under anti-hate law; second group banned after Hizb ut-Tahrir, with 15-year jail term for support, funding or membership.

India recalibrates diplomacy for a multipolar order — multi-alignment, flexible coalitions and Africa-Global South outreach replace Cold-War-era alignment logic

environment

UNEP's Sand & Sustainability III (May 12, 2026) — extraction hits 50 billion tonnes/year (5x of 1970), building-demand to rise 45% by 2060; report names sand the second-most extracted material after water

Asiatic lion count rises to 891 (up 32% from 674 in 2020) per the 16th Population Estimation 2025; Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launches 'Lion' Species Spotlight Programme at Sasan Gir ahead of India's first IBCA Summit (June 1–2, 2026, New Delhi)

Over 100 killed as severe pre-monsoon thunderstorms batter Uttar Pradesh; NDMA 2018 guidelines back in focus

Kaziranga release: India tags its first Ganges soft-shell turtle by satellite on Endangered Species Day; Wildlife Institute of India led, National Geographic Society funded

UP scales up 'One District-One River' campaign: 1.53 lakh person-days generated, Gomti (Pilibhit) restored over 47 km, Tamsa (Azamgarh) revived across 89 km via 111 gram panchayats; Namami Gange + MGNREGS converge for river revival and groundwater recharge.

Bhupender Yadav launches 'Lion' Species Spotlight at Sasan Gir ahead of India's first IBCA Summit (1-2 June 2026, New Delhi) chaired by PM Narendra Modi; 95 countries and 400+ delegates expected; theme — 'Save Big Cats, Save Humanity, Save Ecosystem'; India home to 5 of 7 big cat species.

India eyes E30 after early E20 win — biofuel push promises energy security but sparks water, food and engine-compatibility debates

society

WHO World Health Statistics 2026: world off-track on all health SDGs — malaria up 8.5%, 22.1 million COVID-19 excess deaths, 1.6 billion in health-related poverty, life expectancy fell back to 2011 levels

Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 (11-17 May), theme 'Action' — Mental Health Foundation pushes beyond awareness to concrete personal, community and policy steps

defence

India's first autonomous maritime shipyard at Juvvaladinne — 29.58 acres on the Andhra Pradesh coast for unmanned surface vessels, AUVs, AI shipyard management and 3D-printing.