Current Affairs — 29 May 2026

📖 Explanation

The RBI retained its FY27 real GDP growth projection at 6.9 per cent, in line with the Monetary Policy Committee's April 2026 estimate. The report flagged the West Asia conflict as the biggest external risk but said India remained relatively resilient on the strength of corporate and bank balance sheets, sustained government capex and new trade agreements.

📖 Explanation

The RBI's balance sheet expanded 20.6 per cent in 2025-26, rising by Rs 15.7 lakh crore to Rs 91.9 lakh crore as on 31 March 2026 (26.4 per cent of GDP). The expansion was driven mainly by valuation gains from a sharp rally in gold prices and the depreciation of the rupee.

📖 Explanation

The principal driver of the polymer pilot is durability. Low-denomination notes such as Rs 10 and Rs 20 wear out fastest in cash-heavy daily transactions, so soiled note replacement and printing costs concentrate on these denominations. Polymer substrates resist dirt, moisture and tearing far better than cotton-based paper, sharply extending the life of each note.

📖 Explanation

MoSPI announced on 29 May 2026 that the Q4 and full-year provisional GDP estimates will now be released on 7 June each year (or the previous working day if 7 June is a holiday). The extra week is meant to absorb more listed-company Q4 earnings and central government accounts that become available only on the last working day of May. For 2025-26 specifically, the figures will be released on 5 June.

📖 Explanation

The All-India House Price Index rose 4.2 per cent year-on-year in Q4 2025-26, up from 3.8 per cent growth in the same quarter a year earlier. The HPI uses 2022-23 as its base year and is compiled from transaction-level data sourced from state registration authorities, covering eighteen major cities. The annual increase was led by Nagpur, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Kanpur.

📖 Explanation

India's services exports rose 12.7 per cent year-on-year to USD 37,021 million (about USD 37 billion) in April 2026. Services imports were USD 18,417 million, giving a net services surplus of about USD 18.6 billion — the highest monthly figure in recent quarters. The surplus helps offset India's persistent goods-trade deficit and stabilises the current account.

📖 Explanation

A scheduled bank gains privileges such as eligibility to borrow from the RBI at the bank rate, participate in the clearing house, and obtain currency chest facilities. The flip side is that it must maintain the cash reserve ratio (CRR) with the RBI and is subject to the central bank's full supervisory regime applicable to scheduled banks. The four banks added were Contai Co-op (WB), Prime Co-op (Surat), Shri Veershaiv Co-op (Kolhapur) and The Varachha Co-op (Surat).

📖 Explanation

Ferronickel and nickel pig iron are the primary raw materials for stainless steel production. Nickel also accounts for about 22 per cent of the cost of an electric vehicle battery using nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) chemistry. So a refining crunch in Indonesia raises input costs for India's stainless steel and EV battery sectors most directly. Some battery makers are shifting toward lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells that use no nickel.

📖 Explanation

NFHS-6 (2023-24) records institutional deliveries at 90.6 per cent, up from 88.6 per cent in NFHS-5 (2019-21). Deliveries attended by skilled health personnel rose from 89.4 per cent to 91.3 per cent and antenatal coverage was 95.9 per cent. The survey covered 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts. The share of births in public facilities, however, fell from 61.9 per cent to 58.6 per cent.

📖 Explanation

A Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant set a binding three-month deadline for High Courts to deliver judgments after reserving orders. The clock starts from the date of reservation. The Court also directed that bail orders be pronounced and communicated to the jail the day after the case is heard, the operative part be announced in open court with reasons uploaded within a week, and High Court websites display the date of reservation of each judgment.

📖 Explanation

The two flagship connectivity projects that pass through Myanmar and underpin India's Act East Policy are the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project — which links Kolkata to Mizoram via the Sittwe port in Myanmar — and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, a road link from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand. India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km land border running through Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

📖 Explanation

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's 29 May 2026 report added Israel and Russia to the annual blacklist of parties credibly suspected of patterns of conflict-related sexual violence. Hamas was already on the list. Israel rejected the listing as 'a political decision' and said it would sever ties with the Secretary-General. The framework draws on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security.

📖 Explanation

Mission Drishti — the world's first OptoSAR satellite and India's largest privately developed earth-observation satellite — was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg in California. It is a dual-use satellite supporting defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime surveillance and infrastructure planning, complementing ISRO's existing 29 earth-observation satellites. The Indian Space Policy 2023 and IN-SPACe authorisation enabled this private sector growth.