Current Affairs Today — May 7, 2026

Security & Defence

Operation Sindoor — First Anniversary (May 7, 2025–2026) May 7, 2026 marks the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor — India’s precision military strikes launched on the night of May 6–7, 2025 against nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack (April 22, 2025, 26 civilians killed). PM Modi changed his X display picture to “Operation Sindoor.” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led commemorations calling it a “powerful symbol of national resolve.” The operation eliminated at least 100 terrorists, including JeM’s HQ at Bahawalpur and LeT’s base at Muridke — India’s deepest military campaign since 1971.

International Relations

India-Vietnam: Elevated to Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership During Vietnamese President To Lam’s state visit to India (May 6, 2026), India and Vietnam elevated ties to an “Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” — the highest diplomatic tier India extends. New bilateral trade target: USD 25 billion by 2030 (current: ~USD 16 billion). India exports ~USD 6.11 billion; imports ~USD 10.35 billion from Vietnam.

Jaishankar Visits Jamaica — First Indian EAM to Visit Caribbean EAM S. Jaishankar’s May 2–4, 2026 visit to Jamaica was the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to any Caribbean nation, aimed at strengthening India-CARICOM relations and India’s Global South outreach.

Economy

ECLGS 5.0 Approved — ₹18,100 Crore for MSMEs and Airlines The Union Cabinet approved Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 with a corpus of ₹18,100 crore, enabling an additional credit flow of ₹2.55 lakh crore, targeting MSMEs and airlines stressed by the West Asia conflict. MSMEs: 100% guarantee, 5-year loan, 1-year moratorium. Airlines: ₹5,000 crore earmarked, 7-year loan, 2-year moratorium. ECLGS was first launched during COVID-19 in 2020.

DPIIT Revised FDI Framework for Border Countries DPIIT identified 40 sub-sectors across 6 main segments for expedited FDI clearance from land-border countries (China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Afghanistan) within a mandatory 60-day timeline. Segments include: capital goods, electronic capital goods, advanced battery components, polysilicon and wafers, rare earth processing and permanent magnets. Each ministry to have a dedicated FDI Cell (Joint Secretary-rank nodal officer).

Vadinar Ship Repair Facility Approved — ₹1,570 Crore CCEA approved a ₹1,570 crore ship repair facility at Vadinar, Gujarat, jointly developed by Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) and Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). Infrastructure: 650-metre jetty, two large floating dry docks; capacity: vessels up to 300 metres (currently India can only repair up to 230 m). Employment: ~290 direct + ~1,100 indirect jobs.

Railway Multi-Tracking — ₹23,437 Crore Approved CCEA approved railway multi-tracking projects worth ₹23,437 crore to expand capacity on high-traffic rail corridors under PM Gati Shakti. India’s railway network is the 4th largest in the world.

RBI Inflation Target Review 2026 RBI Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta indicated India may consider lowering the inflation target and narrowing the ±2% tolerance band if growth remains robust. Current framework: 4% CPI target with ±2% band, set under Flexible Inflation Targeting (FIT) adopted in 2016 (Section 45ZA of RBI Act). The target is reviewed every 5 years — 2026 is the next review year. RBI projects FY27 headline inflation at 4.6%.

Rohit Jain Appointed RBI Deputy Governor The Government appointed Rohit Jain as RBI Deputy Governor for 3 years from May 3, 2026, succeeding T. Rabi Sankar. Jain was previously an Executive Director at the RBI.

Polity & Governance

Vande Mataram Protection — Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act Amended The Union Cabinet cleared an amendment to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, making insult or obstruction to the singing of Vande Mataram (National Song) a punishable offence: up to 3 years imprisonment, or fine, or both. Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and first sung at the 1896 Indian National Congress session.

SC Expands Acid Attack Victim Definition under RPwD Act The Supreme Court expanded the definition of “acid attack victims” under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 to include survivors forcibly made to consume acid who suffer internal injuries without external disfigurement. Ruling has retrospective effect from 2016 — enabling existing survivors to access disability benefits and rehabilitation support.

NITI Aayog Launches CPO Portal NITI Aayog CEO Nidhi Chhibber launched the Central Prabhari Officer (CPO) Portal to enable real-time mobile-based reporting under the Aspirational Districts Programme (112 districts) and Aspirational Blocks Programme (500 blocks in 329 districts), strengthening last-mile service delivery monitoring.

Science & Technology

India-Japan: Quantum Science and Medical Devices Agreements India and Japan signed an MoC (AMED + ICMR + DST) on medical devices and a Letter of Intent on Quantum Science and Technology (Japan Cabinet Office ↔ India DST), linked to India’s National Quantum Mission (₹6,003 crore, approved 2023).

IIT Madras Opens First US Centre in Silicon Valley The IIT Madras Global Research Foundation established its first US centre in Menlo Park, California (Silicon Valley) on May 6, 2026, focused on deep-tech startups and India-US innovation partnerships.

Environment

IBCA Summit 2026 — June 1–2, New Delhi Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav launched the website and logo for the first International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) Summit, to be held June 1–2, 2026 in New Delhi. IBCA: founded 2023, headquartered in India, covers 7 big cat species (Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, Puma), 95 range countries.

Social Issues

NCRB ADSI 2024: 1,70,746 Suicides; Missing Children Up 7.8% India recorded 1,70,746 suicides in 2024 (down slightly from 1,71,418 in 2023) per NCRB’s ADSI 2024 report. Missing children cases rose 7.8% to 98,375 (girls: 75,603; boys: 22,768).

History & Culture

16th-Century Telugu Inscription Found at Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh A Telugu inscription from 1574 CE or 1634 CE was discovered on the northern wall of Sri Bugga Ramalingeswara Swamy Temple in Tadipatri, Anantapur district, AP — recording an act of devotion from the Vijayanagara period. Discovered by historian MyNaa Swamy.

Polity & Governance (continued)

Supreme Court Judges Strength Raised to 38 The Union Cabinet approved the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 (May 5, 2026), raising the strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 38 (CJI + 37 puisne judges, up from CJI + 33). The parent statute is the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. The last increase was in 2019 (from 31 to 34 total). Purpose: reduce the backlog of 80,000+ pending cases. Expenditure borne by the Consolidated Fund of India.

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