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Daily Current Affairs: 15 & 16 May 2026

Current affairs of 15 & 16 May 2026: LEADS 2025 Report: State Logistics Rankings and 4-Tier Framework; UNEP Sand and Sustainability Report: Key Findings; AI-Led Financial Inclusion: India’s DPI Stack and Key Tools, and 15 more topics. Key facts for every exam, with a quiz.

Take the quiz (15 questions)May 2026
18 TOPICSDaily CurrentAffairs15 & 16 May 2026In focus: LEADS 2025 Report: State Logistics…safalsetu.com

In this issue: 18 topics

National Affairs

  1. Thoothukudi Shipyard: Anchor of a 2.5 MGT Shipbuilding Cluster
  2. N. Rangasamy Takes Oath as Puducherry CM for a Fifth Term
  3. Akash Ambani Named First Managing Director of Jio Platforms

Government Schemes

  1. ₹37,500 crore coal and lignite gasification scheme approved

Banking & Finance

  1. AI-Led Financial Inclusion: India’s DPI Stack and Key Tools
  2. RBI Scraps Prior Approval for Fintech Remittance Tie-ups
  3. RBI’s Proposed 1-Hour Delay on UPI-Type Transfers Above ₹10,000
  4. CTBC Bank at GIFT City: First Taiwanese Bank Branch

Economy

  1. India’s April 2026 Inflation: CPI 3.48%, WPI 8.3%

International Affairs

  1. Thoothukudi Mega Shipyard: Tripartite MoU Under India-Korea VOYAGES

Agriculture & Rural

  1. IFAD COSOP 2026-2033: India’s New Rural Partnership Plan

Science & Technology

  1. India Nominated Chair of Common Criteria Development Board 2026-28
  2. IP Catalyst Initiative and cipie.in: MeitY Patent-to-Product Push

Environment & Ecology

  1. Asiatic Lion: Spotlight Programme at Sasan Gir and 891 Count
  2. Satellite-Tagged Ganges Soft-Shell Turtle Freed in Kaziranga

Defence & Security

  1. CBI Abhay Helpbot: Verifying Notices Against Digital Arrest Scams

Reports & Indexes

  1. LEADS 2025 Report: State Logistics Rankings and 4-Tier Framework
  2. UNEP Sand and Sustainability Report: Key Findings

National Affairs

Government Schemes

Economy

4. ₹37,500 crore coal and lignite gasification scheme approved

  • The Union Cabinet approved a ₹37,500 crore scheme to promote surface coal and lignite gasification projects.
  • It builds on the National Coal Gasification Mission (2021), which targets 100 MT of gasification by 2030.
  • Coal supply linkages can now last as long as 30 years, via a fresh syngas category in the NRS auctions.
  • Support: up to 20% of the cost of plant and machinery, released in four equal instalments tied to milestones.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Banking & Finance

Economy

6. RBI Scraps Prior Approval for Fintech Remittance Tie-ups

  • From May 2026 fintechs need no RBI nod before partnering AD Category-I banks to offer overseas remittance services.
  • The revised framework supersedes the 2016 one and applies to non-trade current account transfers abroad routed through fintech platforms.
  • AD banks must still obey FEMA, 1999, do KYC checks, and disclose the exact forex amount and the longest credit time to customers.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Banking & Finance

7. RBI’s Proposed 1-Hour Delay on UPI-Type Transfers Above ₹10,000

  • RBI's April discussion paper proposes a one-hour delay before crediting account-to-account digital transfers above ₹10,000, to curb payment fraud.
  • Banks broadly back a delay but ask for the threshold to be raised to ₹25,000; feedback closed on May 8.
  • Transactions above ₹10,000 make up about 45% of fraud cases by volume and about 98.5% by value.
  • Digital payment fraud value rose 41 times in five years to nearly ₹23,000 crore.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Economy

International Affairs

Agriculture & Rural

Agriculture & Rural Development

11. IFAD COSOP 2026-2033: India’s New Rural Partnership Plan

  • India and IFAD launched an eight-year Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) covering 2026 to 2033.
  • The two strategic priorities are Resilience Building and Knowledge Scaling.
  • It backs SHGs, FPOs and cooperatives and links rural enterprises to value chains and e-commerce.
  • NABARD partners on innovation in agriculture, fisheries and animal husbandry; India will share models with Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Science & Technology

Government Schemes

13. IP Catalyst Initiative and cipie.in: MeitY Patent-to-Product Push

  • MeitY launched the IP Catalyst Initiative and its portal cipie.in at a national conference in New Delhi.
  • C-DAC, Pune implements the scheme, which targets the patent-to-product gap in electronics and IT research.
  • Support covers IP filing aid, international patent filing for startups and MSMEs, prior-art search, IP valuation and licensing.
  • Focus areas include semiconductors, IoT, AI, cybersecurity and embedded systems.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Environment & Ecology

Environment & Ecology

14. Asiatic Lion: Spotlight Programme at Sasan Gir and 891 Count

  • A Lion Species Spotlight Programme was inaugurated at Sasan Gir, Gujarat, ahead of the International Big Cat Alliance Summit 2026.
  • The 16th Lion Population Estimation (May 2025) counted 891 Asiatic lions, up 32% from 2020.
  • Barda Wildlife Sanctuary is being readied as a second home so lions are not confined to Gir alone.
  • The Asiatic lion is Schedule-I under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, CITES Appendix-I and Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›
Environment & Ecology

15. Satellite-Tagged Ganges Soft-Shell Turtle Freed in Kaziranga

  • A Ganges soft-shell turtle (Nilssonia gangetica) fitted with India's first satellite tag was freed in Kaziranga, Assam.
  • Led by Dr Abhijit Das of the Wildlife Institute of India, with National Geographic Society funding.
  • The species is Schedule-I under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
  • Five of India's eight soft-shell turtle species occur in the Kaziranga landscape.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Defence & Security

Science & Technology

16. CBI Abhay Helpbot: Verifying Notices Against Digital Arrest Scams

  • The CBI launched Abhay, an AI-based helpbot that lets citizens authenticate notices sent in the agency's name.
  • It runs 24/7 on the CBI's official website to counter digital arrest and impersonation scams.
  • The CBI clarified that Indian law has no such thing as a digital arrest.
  • Suspected scams should be reported to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or helpline 1930.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Reports & Indexes

Environment & Ecology

18. UNEP Sand and Sustainability Report: Key Findings

  • UNEP's report ranks sand as the planet's top-extracted solid, with only water consumed in larger volumes.
  • Annual sand use climbed from 9.6 billion tonnes (1970) to 50 billion tonnes (2020), around 3.2% yearly growth.
  • The sand market was worth $569.4 billion in 2024; 2.3 billion people depend on small-scale fisheries linked to sandy ecosystems.
  • UNEP offers a 10-Point Action Plan and Marine Sand Watch; India has 2016 and 2020 sand mining guidelines.
Full notes and 3 MCQs ›

Test yourself

15 questions from the news of 15 & 16 May 2026, with answers and explanations.

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