PIB Summary – 26 May 2026

National Affairs

BHAVYA Scheme Guidelines Released (DPIIT)

• DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce & Industry) released operational guidelines for the BHAVYA (Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna) Scheme.
• Central Sector Scheme (100% Centre-funded) with outlay of ₹33,660 crore (including ₹60 Cr admin fund).
• Aims to develop 100 investment-ready industrial parks, aligned with Make in India & PM Gati Shakti.

NIBE Defence Complex Inaugurated in Shirdi

• Rajnath Singh inaugurated NIBE Group’s private defence manufacturing complex in Shirdi, Maharashtra (₹5,000+ cr investment, ~4,000 jobs).
• Flagged off India’s first 300-km Universal Rocket Launching System “Suryastra”, tested at ITR Chandipur, Odisha.
• Approved 4 defence corridors in Maharashtra: Pune, Nashik, Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar), and Nagpur.

Two New Space-Tech Facilities Approved (DoS)

• Department of Space approved Common Technical Facilities (CTFs) in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
• Gujarat: Space Manufacturing Park at Khoraj (near Ahmedabad) — spacecraft and payload systems.
• TN: Space Vehicles Cluster at Thoothukudi — manufacturing/testing of launch vehicles, near upcoming SLV complex at Kulasekharapatnam.
• IN-SPACe (ISRO’s commercial arm) will handle procurement and installation.

Ladakh–ONGC Geothermal Project

• Ladakh LG Vinod Saxena approved a 5-year MoU extension with ONGC for India’s first geothermal power project.
• A 1 MWe pilot plant to be set up at Puga Valley (eastern Ladakh) at over 14,000 ft.
• ONGC had earlier drilled Ladakh’s deepest geothermal well (405 m) in 2025.

DoP–Flipkart Agreement

• Department of Posts signed an agreement with Flipkart India to boost e-commerce logistics, especially last-mile delivery in rural/remote areas.
• Covers prepaid & COD parcels, OTP-based delivery, real-time tracking.

Indian Army’s ‘Q-FORCE’ App Launched

• Integrated digital application for logistics and sustainment management across operational terrains.
• Enables real-time monitoring, supply-chain efficiency, faster resource allocation.

International Affairs

Rajnath Singh’s Vietnam–South Korea Visit (May 18–21, 2026)

• Vietnam: Bilateral talks with Dy-PM/Defence Minister Phan Van Giang; inaugurated Language Lab and AI Lab; MoU signed between MCTE (Mhow) and Vietnam’s Telecom University on AI & quantum tech.
• South Korea: Talks with Ahn Gyu-back and Lee Yong-Cheol; MoU on defence cyber security and information sharing; agreements between L&T (India) and Hanwha (ROK).

India–Ethiopia WTO Accession Protocol

• India and Ethiopia signed a bilateral accession protocol in Geneva for Ethiopia’s WTO membership.
• Signed by Senthil Pandian C (India) and Tsegab Kebebew Daka (Ethiopia); fast-tracked under Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Banking & Finance

RBI Penalties

• City Union Bank (CUB): ₹10.10 lakh — for charging fees on priority sector agri loans up to ₹25,000 and SHG data reporting lapses.
• Mintifi Finserve (NBFC): ₹3.10 lakh — delay in uploading KYC records to CKYCR.
• Newa Investments (NBFC): ₹2.70 lakh — appointed directors without prior RBI approval.

AIIB’s USD 10 Billion EFSERF

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank launched the Energy, Food Security and Economic Resilience Facility (EFSERF) — USD 10 billion over 2 years.
• Aimed at member countries affected by the Middle East conflict — energy, food security, economic resilience.
• AIIB headquartered in Beijing; established 2015, operational from Jan 2016.

Awards & Appointments

• Cannes 2026 (79th edition, May 12–23): Palme d’Or → Cristian Mungiu (“Fjord”, Romania); Grand Prix → Andrey Zvyagintsev (“Minotaur”, Russia). Mungiu becomes a two-time Palme d’Or winner.
• ICICI Bank: RBI approved Sandeep Bakhshi’s reappointment as MD & CEO till October 3, 2028.

Sports

• Vijay Shankar (TN all-rounder) retired from domestic cricket and IPL after 25 years; played 12 ODIs and 9 T20Is for India (2018–2019).

Important Days

State News

Delhi Govt–SBI MoU

• Delhi e-Governance Society (under Dept of IT) signed an MoU with SBI to implement ‘e-Pay’ digital payment solution on the state’s e-procurement portal.
• Integrates Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) for real-time verification, removing physical demand drafts.