Daily Current Affairs 25 May 2026

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the ₹20,667 crore Ahmedabad (Sarkhej)–Dholera Semi High-Speed Double-Line railway project in Gujarat.

Spanning a distance of 134 km, this is the first Indian Railways (IR) project to utilize indigenous semi high-speed technology. The technology is designed to support train speeds of up to 220 km/h.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has released the detailed operational guidelines for the implementation of the BHAVYA Scheme. The Central Sector Scheme aims to develop investment-ready, world-class industrial parks across the country.

The scheme aims to develop 100 industrial parks over a 6-year period from FY27 to FY32, with a total financial outlay of ₹33,660 crore. In the first phase, up to 50 industrial parks will be selected through a challenge-based competitive selection process.

The guidelines permit the development of both greenfield and eligible brownfield industrial parks. The minimum land requirement is set at 100 acres for non-hilly states and 25 acres for hilly states, northeastern states, Union Territories (UTs), and smaller states, with provisions to consider larger parks up to 1,000 acres.

According to a report by ICRA Ltd (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of India for FY27 is revised down by 30 basis points (bps) to 6.2%, compared to its previous estimate of 6.5%. The GDP growth for FY26 is projected at 7.5%.

The RBI has issued final amendment directions to revise the regulatory framework governing the Investment Fluctuation Reserve (IFR) for banks and regulated entities. Under the revised norms, the mandatory requirement to maintain the IFR will be discontinued with effect from May 18, 2026.

It is to be noted that the IFR is a reserve created by banks from their profits to absorb losses arising from Mark-to-Market (MTM) valuation changes in investments, particularly government securities.

PM Narendra Modi has undertaken a two-day official visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of the Dutch PM Rob Jetten. During the visit, PM Modi met Dutch King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima at Palace Huis ten Bosch, and held a high-level meeting with PM Jetten at Catshuis, the official residence of the Dutch PM in The Hague.

Both nations signed a total of 17 agreements and adopted the “Roadmap of India-Netherlands Strategic Partnership” for a 5-year period spanning from 2026 to 2030. It is to be noted that the Leiden University Library of the Netherlands restituted the 11th-century Chola Copper Plates to india in the presence of both leaders.

Flying Wedge Defence & Aerospace (FWDA), a deep-tech defence company, has announced that its flagship AI-powered Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) named ‘Kaal Bhairava’ will be manufactured at its first international production facility in Portugal.

The initiative is a part of ‘Operation 777’ which aims to establish seven global headquarters across 77 countries. The project is being developed in collaboration with SKETCHPIXEL, a European company specializing in advanced fighter jet simulation systems (including those for F-16 aircraft).

India has successfully conducted consecutive trials of the “Suryastra” Universal Rocket Launcher system from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, Odisha. The system is developed by Pune-based NIBE Ltd (NIBE) in collaboration with Elbit Systems, Israel.

The demonstration was carried out as part of a ₹293 crore Indian Army (IA) procurement order under the Emergency Procurement window. The Tactical Variant of the system has a range of 150 km and achieved a Circular Error Probable (CEP) of 1.5 m, while the Strategic Variant has a range of 300 km and achieved a CEP of 2 m.

Prudential plc, a UK-based insurer and asset manager, has announced plans to acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance Company Ltd for an initial value of ₹3,500 crore ($389 million).

Under the transaction, the company will buy a 60% stake from Bharti Life Ventures Pvt Ltd and the remaining 15% stake from funds managed by 360 ONE Asset Management.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have successfully launched a joint spacecraft named “Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)” onboard the Vega-C rocket from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana.

It is to be noted that the scientific observations are scheduled to begin 3 months post-launch, and the SMILE mission is projected to operate for a duration of 3 years to improve protection against solar and geomagnetic storms.

Scientists at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Cuttack, Odisha, led by Kutubuddin Ali Molla, have developed and validated a platform named “Plant-OpenCRISPR1” (POC1).

This represents the first AI-designed genome-editing platform in the world for plants, developed utilizing rice as a model crop. The POC1 platform facilitates advanced gene knockout, base editing, and prime editing in rice crops using AI-designed enzymes, surpassing conventional Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technologies.

It is to be noted that the research findings have been accepted for publication in the international journal “New Phytologist”.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has virtually inaugurated the first Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)-led semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP) / Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in India at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

The facility has been established by Sahasra Semiconductors Pvt Ltd under the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS). Constructed with an investment of over ₹150 crore, the unit spans an area of 57,000 sq ft.

Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepali mountaineer popularly known as the “Everest Man”, has broken his own world record by scaling Mount Everest for the 32nd time in the male category. In the female category, Lhakpa Sherpa, popularly known as the “Mountain Queen”, has also broken her own world record by completing her 11th successful ascent of the peak.

It is to be noted that Mt Everest stands at an elevation of 8,849 m (29,032 feet) on the Nepal–China border. The peak is referred to as “Sagarmatha” in Nepali and “Chomolungma” in Tibetan. It was first successfully scaled in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Kavinder Gupta, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, has officially released the “Dogri-Punjabi Dictionary” authored by the late Chandan Negi.

The book release ceremony was jointly organized by the Punjabi Lekhak Sabha and the Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL) at KL Saigal Hall in Jammu. The dictionary is designed to promote linguistic harmony and preserve the literary heritage of the Dogri and Punjabi languages.

International Nurses Day:

Day – May 12

Theme 2026 – “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives”

Commemorating – The birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale