Organizations & Committees
1. Task Force on Deep-Tech Startup Ecosystem
- Name of the organization/committee: Task Force on Deep-Tech Startup Capital and Regulatory Framework
- Full form: Not applicable
- Founded/established year: Constituted in May 2026
- Headquarters (location): New Delhi, India
- Founder or formed by: Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade – DPIIT)
- Purpose/objective: To create an affordable, domestic long-term capital pipeline for deep-tech startups (defense tech, quantum computing, space tech) and remove regulatory bottlenecks preventing local commercialization.
- Members: 11 members, including representatives from ISRO, DRDO, SIDBI, SEBI, and prominent domestic venture capital heads.
- Head/Chairperson/Director-General: Chaired by the Secretary of DPIIT.
- Type: National
- Key functions/roles:
- Formulating structures for specialized deep-tech sovereign funds.
- Creating fast-tracked, single-window intellectual property (IP) clearance lanes for indigenous hardware patents.
- Important reports or recommendations: The panel’s mid-May preliminary directives strongly recommended a 40% mandatory local sourcing allocation for early-stage deep-tech pilot models across public procurement ministries.
- Recent updates/news (Exam Punchline): Formed following directives from National Technology Day 2026 events, this task force is tasked with submitting its absolute blueprint framework before the upcoming Union Budget presentation to anchor dedicated startup tax holidays.
2. Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms Implementation
- Name of the organization/committee: Justice Amitava Roy Committee (Extended Implementation Panel)
- Full form: Not applicable
- Founded/established year: Originally formed in 2018; reactivated with an enforcement-monitoring mandate in May 2026.
- Headquarters (location): New Delhi, India
- Founder or formed by: The Supreme Court of India
- Purpose/objective: To monitor, evaluate, and enforce the urgent time-bound execution of prison restructuring directives across individual States, focusing specifically on overcrowding, health equity, and prison legal aid.
- Members: A 5-member apex monitoring cell consisting of retired judicial minds, senior police officers, and legal aid champions.
- Head/Chairperson/Director-General: Headed by Justice Amitava Roy (Retired Judge of the Supreme Court).
- Type: National (Judicial Oversight)
- Key functions/roles:
- Enforcing the setup of video-conferencing facilities across all prison sub-yards to cut trial delays.
- Overseeing the release process of eligible undertrial prisoners who have already served half of their maximum potential sentence.
- Important reports or recommendations: The May 2026 review directive focused intensely on implementing a strict ratio-based prison capacity cap, making state home departments directly accountable for artificial overcrowding.
- Recent updates/news (Exam Punchline): On May 18, 2026, the Supreme Court pulled up multiple state administrations for delays in applying modern sanitation overhauls, expanding this committee’s dynamic jurisdiction to conduct surprise visual audits of district prisons.
3. High-Level Committee on Digital Agriculture Governance
- Name of the organization/committee: National Steering Committee on the Digital Agriculture Mission
- Full form: Not applicable
- Founded/established year: Restructured and expanded in May 2026
- Headquarters (location): Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi
- Founder or formed by: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
- Purpose/objective: To fast-track the implementation of the AgriStack project—a digital ecosystem creating unique digital identities (Farmer IDs) for farmers linked to land records, crop data, and targeted financial payouts.
- Members: 15 members, featuring agricultural scientists, IT experts from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and state revenue officials.
- Head/Chairperson/Director-General: Co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of MeitY.
- Type: National
- Key functions/roles:
- Standardizing land record digitization across diverse state databases.
- Overseeing the deployment of drone-based crop insurance assessment platforms.
- Important reports or recommendations: In late May 2026, the steering group approved the standardized data-sharing guidelines, ensuring strict privacy firewalls to protect individual crop-yield and land ownership datasets from commercial misuse.
- Recent updates/news (Exam Punchline): In May 2026, this committee officially sanctioned a pilot rollout to generate over 5 Crore unique Farmer IDs across 12 pilot states before the start of the upcoming Kharif sowing window, making it a critical current affairs milestone for rural governance exams.
Important Festivals
1. Buddha Purnima (Vesak)
- Name of the festival: Buddha Purnima (also called Buddha Jayanti or Vesak)
- Date/time (month/season): Celebrated on the full moon day (Purnima) of the Hindu month of Vaishakha (Grishma Ritu / early Summer). It fell on May 1, 2026.
- State/country where it is celebrated: Pan-India (primarily observed in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Ladakh, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh) and globally across East/Southeast Asian nations.
- Religion/community associated: Buddhism (revered globally by both Theravada and Mahayana sects; also deeply respected by Hindus).
- Purpose/significance (why it is celebrated): To honor the path of peace, non-violence (Ahimsa), and compassion shown by Siddhartha Gautama, and to seek inner transformation.
- Historical or mythological background: It represents a unique “Triple Blessing” milestone. It is believed that three defining events in the life of Lord Buddha occurred on this exact same lunar day: his birth at Lumbini (c. 563 BCE), his spiritual awakening/enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, and his Mahaparinirvana (demise) at Kushinagar (c. 483 BCE).
- Key rituals and traditions: Devotees visit monasteries to listen to sermons and chant the Buddha Vandana. The sacred Bodhi tree is decorated, and water mixed with milk is poured over its roots. Clay lamps and candles are lit, and birds or captive animals are traditionally released as acts of absolute mercy.
- Special foods/dress: Devotees strictly wear clean, unstitched white clothing symbolizing absolute purity. A sweet milk-rice porridge called Kheer is prepared, distributed to the needy, and offered to the monastic community.
- Duration: One day (Gazetted Public Holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act in India).
- Famous places where it is celebrated grandly: Mahabodhi Temple (Bodh Gaya, Bihar), Dhamek Stupa (Sarnath, UP), Parinirvana Stupa (Kushinagar, UP), and various monasteries across Gangtok (Sikkim) and Leh (Ladakh).
- Type: Religious and Cultural
- Special facts or unique features (Exam Punchline): In Ladakh and Sikkim, it is integrated into the Saga Dawa lunar month celebrations where monastic communities perform highly specialized sacred masked dances known as Cham.
2. Akshaya Tritiya
- Name of the festival: Akshaya Tritiya (also known regionally as Akha Teej or Akti)
- Date/time (month/season): Observed on the third lunar day (Tritiya) of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of the Hindu month of Vaishakha. It fell on April 19, 2026.
- State/country where it is celebrated: Celebrated across India and Nepal.
- Religion/community associated: Hinduism and Jainism.
- Purpose/significance (why it is celebrated): The Sanskrit word Akshaya means “eternal, imperishable, or never diminishing.” It is celebrated to initiate eternal growth, unlock financial luck, and perform high-value charity, as any auspicious deed done on this day is believed to multiply infinitely.
- Historical or mythological background:
- Hinduism: Believed to be the day Ved Vyasa and Lord Ganesha began writing the epic Mahabharata, the day the river Ganga descended to earth, and the birth anniversary of Lord Parashurama (Lord Vishnu’s sixth avatar).
- Jainism: Commemorates the day the first Tirthankara, Lord Rishabhanatha, concluded his grueling 400-day ascetic fast.
- Key rituals and traditions: Households conduct Lakshmi-Narayan and Kubera pujas. Many families perform Kalash Sthapana (installing a water-filled metallic pot) and offer donations (Annadana and Vastradana) to the underprivileged.
- Special foods/dress: Traditional festive meals vary by region, but in Jain traditions, drinking sugarcane juice (Ikshu Rasa) holds supreme symbolic importance.
- Duration: One day.
- Famous places where it is celebrated grandly: Jagannath Temple (Puri, Odisha)—where the construction of the massive wooden chariots for the annual Ratha Yatra officially begins on this day; and Vrindavan (UP)—where the feet of the Banke Bihari idol are uncovered for public viewing only once a year.
- Type: Religious and Socio-Economic
- Special facts or unique features (Exam Punchline): Astronomically and astrologically, it is classified as an Abujh Muhurat or Sarva Siddhi Muhurat. This unique designation means every single second of the day is inherently pure, allowing individuals to register property, start businesses, or conduct weddings without needing to consult a priest for a specific time window.
3. Thrissur Pooram
- Name of the festival: Thrissur Pooram
- Date/time (month/season): Celebrated annually in the Malayalam calendar month of Medam (corresponding to April–May), when the moon rises with the Pooram star.
- State/country where it is celebrated: Kerala, India.
- Religion/community associated: Hinduism (though it has evolved into a secular mass cultural event enjoyed by all communities).
- Purpose/significance (why it is celebrated): To celebrate a grand, friendly assembly of regional deities pay homage to Lord Shiva at the central Vadakkunnathan Temple, serving as a masterclass in regional art, percussion, and community unity.
- Historical or mythological background: It was conceptualized and unified in 1798 by Raja Rama Varma (popularly known as Sakthan Thampuran), the Maharaja of Cochin. Before this, the local temples were excluded from an older festival due to monsoon delays; Sakthan Thampuran retaliated by creating a massive, highly structured mega-festival open to all.
- Key rituals and traditions: It features a brilliant competitive rivalry between two traditional temple factions: Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi. Key highlights include the Kudamattom (a fast-paced visual competition involving the switching of ornate, multi-colored umbrellas atop elephants) and the Elanjithara Melam (a massive synchronised performance featuring over 200 traditional percussion artists playing the chenda and elanji instruments).
- Special foods/dress: People wear traditional Kerala attire—men wear clean white Mundu (dhotis) with gold borders, and women wear the classic Kasavu saree.
- Duration: Celebrated intensely over 36 continuous hours (with the overall ceremonies spanning 7 days).
- Famous places where it is celebrated grandly: Held at the expansive Thekkinkadu Maidan surrounding the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur, Kerala.
- Type: Cultural, Mega-Religious, and Art Festival.
- Special facts or unique features (Exam Punchline): It is widely considered the largest and most visually spectacular gathering of caparisoned (ornately decorated) elephants in Asia. The festival concludes with an world-renowned, massive, synchronized pyrotechnics (fireworks) display in the early hours of the final day, which draws over one million global travelers and domestic pilgrims annually.
May 2026 Current Affairs – 100 Practice MCQs
Q1. Which team won the TATA IPL 2026 tournament held in May 2026?
A) Gujarat Titans
B) Rajasthan Royals
C) Royal Challengers Bengaluru
D) Sunrisers Hyderabad
Answer: C) Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Q2. Who won the Player of the Tournament (Orange Cap) title in the IPL 2026 season?
A) Shubman Gill
B) Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
C) Virat Kohli
D) Travis Head
Answer: B) Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Q3. Which stadium hosted the grand finale match of the IPL 2026 season?
A) M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
B) Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
C) Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
D) Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Answer: C) Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Q4. Which country won the BWF Thomas Cup 2026 title held at Horsens, Denmark?
A) China
B) France
C) South Korea
D) India
Answer: A) China
Q5. Which country finished as the historic first-time runner-up in the BWF Thomas Cup 2026?
A) Denmark
B) Indonesia
C) France
D) Japan
Answer: C) France
Q6. Who clinched the BWF Uber Cup 2026 women’s team championship title in May 2026?
A) China
B) South Korea
C) Japan
D) Indonesia
Answer: B) South Korea
Q7. Who won the Women’s Singles title at the Mutua Madrid Open 2026?
A) Mirra Andreeva
B) Iga Swiatek
C) Marta Kostyuk
D) Aryna Sabalenka
Answer: C) Marta Kostyuk
Q8. Jannik Sinner won the Men’s Singles Madrid Open 2026 title by defeating which player in the final?
A) Arthur Fils
B) Carlos Alcaraz
C) Alexander Zverev
D) Novak Djokovic
Answer: A) Arthur Fils
Q9. Which football club lifted the UEFA Europa League 2025-26 championship trophy in May 2026?
A) Athletic Bilbao
B) Bayer Leverkusen
C) AS Roma
D) Atalanta
Answer: B) Bayer Leverkusen
Q10. The 2026 UEFA Europa League Final was hosted in which stadium and city?
A) Wembley Stadium, London
B) Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul
C) Allianz Arena, Munich
D) San Siro, Milan
Answer: B) Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul
Q11. Who was named the Player of the Match in the UEFA Europa League Final 2026?
A) Granit Xhaka
B) Florian Wirtz
C) Victor Boniface
D) Nico Williams
Answer: B) Florian Wirtz
Q12. What unique milestone did Jannik Sinner achieve with his Madrid Open 2026 victory?
A) First player to win a clay title without losing a point
B) Won his fifth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title
C) Youngest Masters champion ever
D) Completed a Golden Slam
Answer: B) Won his fifth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title
Q13. How many franchise teams participated in the TATA IPL 2026 season?
A) 8
B) 10
C) 12
D) 9
Answer: B) 10
Q14. The Thomas Cup and Uber Cup tournaments are organized by which international body?
A) ICC
B) ITTF
C) BWF
D) FIBA
Answer: C) BWF
Q15. What is the frequency of the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup championships?
A) Annual
B) Biennial (Every 2 years)
C) Quadrennial (Every 4 years)
D) Triennial (Every 3 years)
Answer: B) Biennial (Every 2 years)
Q16. Who is the head coach of the IPL 2026 winning team Royal Challengers Bengaluru?
A) Ashish Nehra
B) Andy Flower
C) Gautam Gambhir
D) Rahul Dravid
Answer: B) Andy Flower
Q17. Which bowler won the Purple Cap for taking the maximum wickets in IPL 2026?
A) Jasprit Bumrah
B) Rasikh Salam
C) Kagiso Rabada
D) Rashid Khan
Answer: C) Kagiso Rabada
Q18. Who was the captain of the runner-up team Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026?
A) Shubman Gill
B) Hardik Pandya
C) Rashid Khan
D) Rishabh Pant
Answer: A) Shubman Gill
Q19. Who is the head coach of Bayer Leverkusen, who led them to the UEFA Europa League title in May 2026?
A) Ernesto Valverde
B) Pep Guardiola
C) Xabi Alonso
D) Jurgen Klopp
Answer: C) Xabi Alonso
Q20. In which country is the headquarters of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) located?
A) Lausanne, Switzerland
B) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
C) Copenhagen, Denmark
D) New Delhi, India
Answer: B) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Q21. Which location hosted the maiden edition of the multilateral military exercise ‘PRAGATI 2026’ in May 2026?
A) Pokhran, Rajasthan
B) Umroi, Meghalaya
C) Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
D) Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh
Answer: B) Umroi, Meghalaya
Q22. How many countries participated in the land-force diplomatic exercise PRAGATI 2026 hosted by India?
A) 5
B) 10
C) 13
D) 15
Answer: C) 13
Q23. What does the letter ‘A’ stand for in the military exercise name ‘PRAGATI’?
A) Aviation
B) Armies
C) Alliance
D) Advanced
Answer: B) Armies (Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the IOR)
Q24. Which armed wing conducted the user training launch of the Agni-I ballistic missile in May 2026?
A) Indian Navy
B) Indian Air Force
C) Strategic Forces Command (SFC)
D) Border Security Force (BSF)
Answer: C) Strategic Forces Command (SFC)
Q25. Where was the user training trial of the Agni-I ballistic missile carried out on May 22, 2026?
A) Pokhran Test Range, Rajasthan
B) Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha
C) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha
D) Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan
Answer: B) Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha
Q26. What is the approximate strike range of the short-range ballistic missile Agni-I validated in May 2026?
A) 350 km
B) 900 km
C) 1500 km
D) 2500 km
Answer: B) 900 km
Q27. Where did DRDO execute the final developmental field trials for the UAV Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM) ‘V3’?
A) Jodhpur, Rajasthan
B) Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
C) Chandipur, Odisha
D) Bengaluru, Karnataka
Answer: B) Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
Q28. What primary propulsion breakthrough was tested for a record 1200 seconds by DRDO in May 2026?
A) Cryogenic Rocket Engine
B) Ramjet Rocket Engine
C) Hypersonic Scramjet Engine
D) Solid Motor Booster
Answer: C) Hypersonic Scramjet Engine
Q29. What speed milestone is targeted by the DRDO’s recent Scramjet Engine test?
A) Mach 2
B) Mach 3
C) Exceeding Mach 5
D) Mach 1
Answer: C) Exceeding Mach 5
Q30. What was the name of the joint military-civilian disaster relief operation launched to contain the forest fires in Himachal Pradesh?
A) Operation Varuna
B) Operation Kasauli
C) Operation Himachal Help
D) Operation Sahayata
Answer: B) Operation Kasauli
