Current Affairs One-liners — May 2026

Sun, 31 May 2026

• Admiral Krishna Swaminathan assumed charge as the 27th Chief of the Naval Staff on 31 May 2026, succeeding Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi.
• On 31 May 2026 General NS Raja Subramani assumed charge as the third Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.
• PM SVANidhi, the micro-credit scheme for street vendors of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs launched in June 2020, completed six years; the occasion was marked in Agartala on 31 May 2026.
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the IPL 2026 final at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on 31 May 2026 to retain the title.
• Veteran Hindi film playback singer Suman Kalyanpur died at her home in Mumbai on 31 May 2026 at the age of 89; Maharashtra gave her a funeral with full State honours.
• On Buddha Purnima, 31 May 2026, the holy relics of Arhat Sariputra and Arhat Mahamoggallana from India were enshrined at Gandantegchenling Monastery, Ulaanbaatar, for a ten-day exposition.
• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the nationwide 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' would begin on 1 June 2026 from Ramsiya village in Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh.
• Under Phase III of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the enumeration phase began on 30 May 2026 in Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur.
• World No Tobacco Day was observed on 31 May 2026 with the WHO theme 'Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction'.
• At a review with Union Power Minister Manohar Lal in Agartala on 31 May 2026, Tripura committed to rooftop solar for 2 lakh consumers by March 2027 and prepaid metering of government consumers by August 2026.
• Results announced on 31 May 2026 showed Malta's Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Robert Abela, winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in the snap general election.
• On 31 May 2026 Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan inaugurated the SIRI Mathrushree Industrial Park at Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, from Dharmasthala.
• Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar inaugurated the 2nd National Conference of Counsels representing the Election Commission of India at IIIDEM, New Delhi, on 31 May 2026.
• Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan attended the 140th foundation anniversary of the Deepika Malayalam daily in Kottayam on 31 May 2026 and presented the Deepika Excellence Awards.
• On 31 May 2026 Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Lokmata Ahilyabai Holkar on her birth anniversary, recalling her good governance and reconstruction of temples and pilgrimage sites.

Sat, 30 May 2026

• The first edition of the multilateral Army exercise PRAGATI (Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the Indian Ocean Region) concluded at Umroi Military Station, Meghalaya, on 30 May 2026.
• The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) realised ₹21.26 crore through the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism in 2025–26, with the seed sector the largest contributor (₹11.75 crore).
• The Digi Yatra app crossed 10 crore uses across 38 airports with over 2.4 crore downloads, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on 30 May 2026.
• Fighting a forest fire near Kasauli (Solan, Himachal Pradesh) in late May 2026, the Indian Air Force for the first time carried out night Bambi Bucket operations using Night Vision Goggles.
• Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan assumed charge as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, in Mumbai on 30 May 2026; he was earlier Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
• The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, run by the National Health Authority, crossed 90 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) in May 2026, with Uttar Pradesh leading at over 15.3 crore.
• On 30 May 2026 Dr Jitendra Singh launched 'Samadhan Didi', an AI-enabled voice chatbot for CPGRAMS developed by DARPG with Bhashini, letting citizens lodge grievances by speaking in their own language.
• The Centre notified export levies (Special Additional Excise Duty) of ₹1.5/litre on petrol, ₹13.5/litre on diesel and ₹9.5/litre on ATF for the fortnight beginning 1 June 2026.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated 'Nausena Shaurya Vatika', an open-air naval museum showcasing INS Gomati's weapon systems, in Lucknow on 30 May 2026.
• On 30 May 2026 West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched a statewide free HPV vaccination campaign against cervical cancer, targeting about 7.65 lakh girls aged 14 with a single dose of Gardasil-4.
• On 30 May 2026 Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed Meghalaya's preparations for the 39th National Games in 2027 and announced a ₹150 crore high-altitude training centre in the State.
• On 30 May 2026 the Central Government temporarily exempted all customs duties on import of cotton from 1 June 2026 till 31 October 2026 to improve cotton availability for the textile sector.
• Goa marked its 40th Statehood Day on 30 May 2026; Goa became the 25th State of India on 30 May 1987.
• The National Steering Committee of PM-SETU approved its first-ever Strategic Investment Plan, by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India for the Visakhapatnam ITI Cluster, making Andhra Pradesh the first State to operationalise an industry partnership under the ₹60,000 crore scheme.
• Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Champions League final at the Puskás Aréna, Budapest, on 30 May 2026, winning the title for a second successive year.