Current Affairs Today — May 5, 2026

Top Stories — May 5, 2026

Economy & Development

RBI MPC — Repo Rate Held at 5.25%, Neutral Stance The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously held the repo rate at 5.25% with a neutral stance. GDP growth projected at 6.9% for FY 2026–27 (down from 7.6% in FY 2025–26); CPI inflation projected at 4.6%. Key upside risks: West Asia conflict driving energy prices; possible El Niño. SDF rate: 5.00%; MSF/Bank Rate: 5.50%.

India Ranks 3rd Globally in Renewable Energy — IRENA 2026 India secured 3rd position in renewable energy installed capacity as per IRENA Renewable Energy Statistics 2026, trailing only China and the USA. Total non-fossil capacity: 283.46 GW (as of March 31, 2026) — solar 150.26 GW, wind 56.09 GW, large hydro 51.41 GW, nuclear 8.78 GW. India added a record 55.3 GW of non-fossil capacity in FY 2025–26 — highest ever annual addition.

Coal Gasification Incentive Scheme V-KALP — ₹37,500 Crore The Union Cabinet is set to approve the Coal Gasification Incentive Scheme (V-KALP) worth ₹37,500 crore — scaling up from the ₹8,500 crore scheme of January 2024. Target: 100 million tonnes of coal gasification capacity by 2030, reducing import dependence on LNG, urea, ammonia, methanol, and coking coal. Maximum assistance per project: ₹3,000 crore.

EPFO E-PRAAPTI Portal — Dormant PF Accounts The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation announced E-PRAAPTI (Employee Provident Fund Aadhaar-based Access Portal for Tracking Inoperative Accounts) to help members claim 31.83 lakh dormant PF accounts via Aadhaar-based verification. EPFO settled 8.31 crore claims in FY 2025–26 — up from 6.01 crore in FY 2024–25.

Environment

State of India’s Environment 2026 — CSE/Down To Earth The State of India’s Environment (SOE) 2026 report by CSE and Down To Earth warns that 7 of 9 planetary boundaries have now been breached (including ocean acidification — the 7th). Extreme weather events occurred on 99% of days (January–November 2025; 331 of 334 days), causing 4,419 deaths and damaging 17.41 million hectares of cropland. Only 15% of India’s population lives within 10 km of an air quality monitor.

Science & Technology

ISRO — 27 Missions Planned for FY 2026–27 Including Four Gaganyaan ISRO announced 27 space missions for FY 2026–27 — four dedicated to Gaganyaan human spaceflight. Gaganyaan-1 (uncrewed, with Vyommitra half-humanoid robot): H2 2026. First crewed mission: Q1 2027. Four astronauts selected: Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap, Shubhanshu Shukla (all IAF test pilots).

SACHET — Cell Broadcast Alert System Tested Nationwide SACHET (Integrated Alert System), developed by C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) under DoT in partnership with NDMA and MHA, was tested nationally on May 2, 2026. The system broadcasts emergency alerts to all mobile devices in a geographic area simultaneously, independent of call/SMS network congestion. Operational across all 36 States and UTs; based on Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) by ITU.

Pixxel + Sarvam AI — India’s First Orbital AI Data Centre Satellite Pixxel and Sarvam AI announced Pathfinder — India’s first AI-powered orbital data centre satellite (~200 kg), hosting data-centre-class GPUs capable of running full language models in orbit. Launch targeted Q4 2026, enabling real-time in-orbit AI processing for Earth observation with data sovereignty.

Security & Defence

North Tech Symposium 2026 — “Raksha Triveni Sangam” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the North Tech Symposium 2026 (May 4–6) at Prayagraj, themed “Raksha Triveni Sangam — Where Technology, Industry & Soldiering Converge”, jointly by Indian Army’s Northern & Central Commands and SIDM. Over 284 companies including MSMEs and startups showcased indigenous defence technologies — drones, autonomous vehicles, all-terrain systems.

India Warns Italy on Pakistan Defence Tech Transfers India delivered a firm warning to Italy during a bilateral meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto — cautioning that Italian defence technology must not be transferred to Pakistan given Pakistan’s continued support for terrorism.

International Relations

ADB — $70 Billion Asia-Pacific Power and Digital Initiative ADB President Masato Kanda announced a $70 billion initiative at the ADB Annual Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan: the Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative ($50 billion, cross-border renewable power connectivity) and Asia-Pacific Digital Highway ($20 billion, fibre/satellite/data centre connectivity). Goal: connect 200 million first-time broadband users and create 4 million jobs by 2035.

BRICS India 2026 — 18th Summit in New Delhi (September) India’s BRICS Presidency theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. The 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled for September 12–13, 2026, New Delhi. Key agenda: global governance reforms, local currency trade, digital public infrastructure, climate finance, and counter-terrorism. Current BRICS membership: 11 countries — original 5 (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) + Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE (joined Jan 2024) + Indonesia (joined Jan 6, 2025) + Saudi Arabia (joined July 2025 as the 11th member).

Polity & Governance

Karnataka — India’s First State-Led Space Technology Centre of Excellence Karnataka launched India’s first state-led Centre of Excellence for Space Technology (CoE SpaceTech Foundation) on May 1, 2026, at Bengaluru, under an MoU between KITS (Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society) and SIA-India (Space Industry Association of India). Focus: space biotech, satellite applications for agriculture, climate, and national security.

Prelims Quick Facts