Daily Current Affairs 14 May 2026

The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the lease for land held by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and leased to MIHAN India Ltd (MIL) beyond August 6, 2039. The extension facilitates the licensing of Nagpur Airport to the concessionaire, GMR Nagpur International Airport Ltd (GNIAL), for a 30-year duration from the Commercial Operation Date (COD).

The initiative marks a significant step in developing Nagpur Airport into a regional aviation hub under the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project.

It is to be noted that MIL was established in 2009 as a Joint Venture Company (JVC) between the AAI and the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC). The equity structure of the JVC consists of a 49% stake held by the AAI and a 51% stake held by the MADC.

NITI Aayog has inaugurated the Central Prabhari Officer (CPO) Portal in New Delhi to bolster real-time governance and streamline last-mile service delivery.

The digital platform is implemented under the framework of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) and the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP). The portal aims to minimize the disparity between field-level observations and administrative responses by utilizing a structured real-time reporting system.

The Union Cabinet has approved two semiconductor projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 1.0 with an investment of ₹3,936 crore. The projects include the first commercial Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology-based Mini/Micro-Light Emitting Diode (LED) display facility in India by Crystal Matrix Ltd (CML) and a semiconductor packaging unit by Suchi Semicon Pvt Ltd (SSPL) in Gujarat.

These are the final projects sanctioned under ISM 1.0, which is a specialized division of the Digital India Corporation under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It is to be noted that ISM was launched in 2021 with a total outlay of ₹76,000 crore to build a self-reliant semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the increase of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane to ₹365 per quintal for the 2026-27 season. This is based on a 10.25% basic recovery rate and marks a 2.81% increase from the ₹355 per quintal rate of the 2025-26 season. The new price will be effective from October 2026.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has introduced an updated Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to expedite the clearance of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals. The new SOP identifies 40 sub-sectors, where FDI proposals from countries sharing land borders with India will be processed within 60 days.

The expedited timeline applies to investments from China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. These 40 sub-sectors are grouped into 6 primary segments: capital goods manufacturing, electronic capital goods and components, advanced battery components, polysilicon and wafers, rare earth processing, and rare earth permanent magnets.

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 RBI has granted approval to Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) to acquire an equity stake of up to 9.99% in the paid-up share capital or voting rights of AU Small Finance Bank and Federal Bank Ltd. It is to be noted that the latter is one of the largest mid-sized private sector lenders in India based on market capitalisation (m-cap).

The Department of Financial Services (DFS) has approved the “Viability Plan 2.0” to institutionalize performance monitoring and strengthen governance reforms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). The plan is extended for a 3-year duration from FY26 to FY28, following the completion of the FY22–FY25 phase.

The framework of the plan includes 30 performance parameters categorized under 4 pillars: operational excellence, asset quality, profitability, and growth. The initiative aims to enhance financial stability and improve operational efficiency across all 28 RRBs.

The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has signed an MoU with Prasar Bharati, the public service broadcaster of India, to enhance investor awareness across the country. Under the partnership, informative scroll messages will be broadcast on Doordarshan (DD) across its national and regional networks.

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.

The DRDO has inaugurated a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Field Training and Demonstration Centre at Burari plains in New Delhi.

Operating as a DRDO-CBRN Centre of Excellence (CoE), the facility is designed to bolster national preparedness for radiological and nuclear emergencies. The CoE is equipped with specialized technical infrastructure to facilitate emergency medical and tactical responses.

The DRDO, through the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), has successfully conducted a long-duration test of an actively cooled full-scale scramjet combustor.

The test was held at the Scramjet Connect Pipe Test (SCPT) Facility in Hyderabad, Telangana. The combustor demonstrated sustained operational performance by achieving a run-time exceeding 1,200 seconds.

The IIT Madras Global Research Foundation has announced the establishment of its first international centre in Menlo Park, California.

The centre is designed to provide Indian deep-tech enterprises with access to international capital, markets, professional mentorship, and global partnerships. A total investment of $7.5 million is planned for the project.

Prabhat Kumar, the High Commissioner of India to South Africa, has handed over the official banner of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town. The banner will be permanently displayed at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) facility.

It is to be noted that the IUCAA, situated in Pune, is an institution dedicated to research and education in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has unveiled two AI-enabled weather forecasting models to provide hyperlocal monsoon and rainfall data. The models were collaboratively developed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).

The “AI-Enabled Monsoon Advance Forecasting System” provides subdistrict or block-level forecasting for the first time, covering 3,196 blocks across 15 states and 1 Union Territory (UT) in the rainfed monsoon core zone of India. It is to be noted that the system predicts monsoon progression up to 4 weeks in advance with an error margin of 4 days.

The “High Spatial Resolution Rainfall Forecast” is a pilot project in Uttar Pradesh that uses the “Mithuna” weather model to downscale 12.5-km grids to a 1-km resolution. It generates specific rainfall forecasts for up to 10 days in advance.

N Rangasamy, belonging to the All India NR Congress (AINRC) party, has sworn in as the Chief Minister (CM) of Puducherry for a record 5th term. The oath of office was administered by the LG K Kailashnathan.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has announced the winners of the National Panchayat Awards 2025 (NPA-2025), recognizing 42 Panchayats for excellence in rural governance and sustainable development. Karnataka secured the highest number of awards with 6 honors, followed by Odisha and Andhra Pradesh with 5 awards each.

Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP) category, 34 Gram Panchayats (GP) were selected based on the scores of the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 2.0. The Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (NDSPSVP-2025) recognized 8 winners, comprising 3 District Panchayats, 2 Block Panchayats, and 3 GPs.

New Napam Gaon Panchayat in Assam was named the Best GP of India under NDSPSVP 2025, receiving a prize of ₹1.5 crore. Telcup in Bihar and Biraharu in Uttar Pradesh secured the second and third positions, earning ₹1.25 crore and ₹1 crore respectively.

Union Minister Amit Shah has launched two books titled “The Bench, the Bar, and the Bizarre” and “The Lawful and the Awful” at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The books are authored by Tushar Mehta (the Solicitor General of India) and published by Rupa Publications India.