Daily Current Affairs – 01-06-2026

National News

Anaimangalam Copper Plates and National Athletics Records

Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the significance of the Anaimangalam Copper Plates during the 134th edition of Mann Ki Baat. The copper plates, returned to India from the Netherlands, consist of 21 large and 3 small copper plates and are mainly linked to Rajendra Chola I. They record the donation of Anaimangalam village to a Buddhist Vihara and contain details on the achievements of the Chola dynasty, its naval strength, and relations with Southeast Asian countries. The inscriptions also provide information on the historical commercial and diplomatic links between Tamil Nadu and Southeast Asia. In sports, the National Senior Federation Cup Athletics Championship held at Ranchi, Jharkhand, witnessed four national records. Gurindervir Singh, Vishal D.K., Tejaswin Shankar, Dev Meena, and Kuldeep Kumar achieved records in their events. In the 100-metre race, the national record was broken three times in two days, with Gurindervir Singh finally setting a new national record of 10.09 seconds, while Animesh Kujur also improved the timing during the competition.

Supreme Court on POCSO and Human Trafficking

The Supreme Court of India ruled that trafficking of persons below 18 years of age for commercial sexual exploitation can attract charges under the POCSO Act. The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan. The Court stated that cases involving trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation can be registered under the POCSO Act, along with relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. The Court clarified that consent is not relevant in cases involving coercion, fraud, abuse of power, trafficking, or exploitation. It also stated that awareness of employment in the sex industry does not remove a person’s status as a trafficking victim. The judgment referred to Article 23 of the Constitution of India, which prohibits human trafficking, begar, and forced labour.

New Rules on LPG, UPI and PAN Card

New rules related to LPG, UPI, PAN Card, and bank service charges have come into effect. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas introduced revised rules to gradually phase out dual gas connections (LPG and PNG) in areas with piped natural gas infrastructure, requiring consumers with a PNG connection to surrender their LPG connection within 30 days of activation. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) made a new security feature mandatory for UPI transactions, under which the official bank account name of the recipient will be displayed before entering the UPI PIN in apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. Banks will strictly monitor monthly free ATM transaction limits of 3 to 5 transactions, and charges for services such as cash withdrawal, mini statements, and balance enquiry after the limit may increase. Relaxations have been provided for quoting PAN Card details for cash deposits up to Rs.50,000 in bank branches, while PAN Card submission remains mandatory for high-value family gifts and property registrations above Rs.20 lakh.

J&K High Court on Article 311(2)(c)

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court ruled that the President or Governor, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers, can dismiss a government employee without a departmental inquiry or opportunity for defence in matters concerning “security of the State”. The ruling was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Sanjay Parihar while upholding the dismissal of Ghulam Mohammad Tantray, a Jammu & Kashmir Police constable, who was dismissed in 2004. The case involved the use of Section 126(2)(c) of the former Jammu & Kashmir Constitution, corresponding to Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India. Article 311 deals with dismissal, removal, or reduction in rank of civil servants under the Union or States, while Article 311(2)(c) permits exemption from inquiry if the President or Governor considers it necessary in the interest of State security. The court noted that “security of the State” includes matters such as terrorism, espionage, militant links, threats to sovereignty and integrity, and grave anti-national activities. Since 2021, the J&K Lieutenant Governor’s administration has dismissed 91 government employees under Article 311(2)(c).

Study on Herbal Cigarettes

A joint study by Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA found that herbal cigarettes can be as harmful as, or more harmful than, tobacco cigarettes. The study compared emissions from two leading tobacco brands in India and four herbal cigarette brands containing basil, clove, cinnamon, mint, green tea, water lily, and chamomile. Two herbal brands used tendu (ebony) leaf wrappers, similar to those used in bidis. The research titled “The lure of ‘Healthier Smoke’: Comparative physical, chemical, and oxidative potential characterization of emissions from herbal and tobacco cigarettes” was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. The study was authored by Alok Kumar Thakur and Sameer Patel of IIT Gandhinagar, and P. S. Ganesh Subramanian and Vishal Verma of UIUC.

General N. S. Raja Subramani Appointed as New CDS

General N. S. Raja Subramani assumed charge as India’s new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on May 31, succeeding General Anil Chauhan. Known as an expert on Pakistan and China affairs, he previously served as Military Advisor at the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and retired as Vice Chief of Army Staff on July 31 of the previous year. His key priorities include implementing the military theaterisation plan, strengthening tri-services synergy and integration among the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, accelerating the development, induction and integration of indigenous weapon systems, and promoting cooperation among the military, industry, academia, Defence Ministry and strategic institutions under the “whole of nation approach” to strengthen India’s security.

New CDS and Navy Chief of India

General N. S. Raja Subramani assumed office as India’s third Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), succeeding General Anil Chauhan. He previously served as Military Adviser at the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and was commissioned into the 8th Battalion of the Garhwal Rifles in 1985. He also served as Vice Chief of the Army Staff from July 2024 to July 2025. His appointment comes amid reforms related to theatre command, tri-service integration, and military modernisation. Simultaneously, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan took charge as the 27th Chief of the Naval Staff, succeeding Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi. Admiral Swaminathan joined the Navy on July 1, 1987 and is a specialist in communication and electronic warfare. His tenure begins as the Indian Navy advances indigenous warship construction, submarine induction, carrier battle group operations, and unmanned systems in the Indo-Pacific region.

AI Crowd Management at Shravani Mela

The Jharkhand Government will use Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technologies and tools for the first time to manage crowds during the Shravani Mela festival, which will begin on June 22 in Deoghar, Jharkhand. Authorities have directed the police department to implement this technology for the event. The AI system will collect real-time information about devotees and will accurately determine the actual number of devotees and the number of devotees waiting in the queue for पूजा (puja).

AI System for Fake News Detection in India

Researchers from ABV–Indian Institute of Information Technology (ABV-IIIT), Gwalior have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system named F2IND-IT! (Fuzzy Fake Indian News Detection using Images and Text) to detect fake news in Indian media using text analysis, image recognition and fuzzy logic. The system was described in a research paper uploaded on arXiv. According to data from the Press Information Bureau (PIB) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1,575 fake news cases were reported between 2022 and March 2025, increasing from 338 cases in 2022 to 583 cases in 2024. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed a 214% rise in fake news cases during 2018–2020. The AI model uses DistilBERT for text understanding, ResNet-50 for image feature extraction, and an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) to classify news as fake or genuine. The model was trained using the Indian Fake News Dataset (IFND) containing over 56,000 news articles and achieved nearly 98% accuracy.

PM-SVANidhi Scheme Impact

The PM-SVANidhi (Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar) Scheme, launched in June 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic, provides collateral-free micro-credit loans to street vendors in three tranches of ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹50,000. According to the impact assessment, the average income of beneficiaries increased by 20%. Digital transactions among street vendors rose from 43% in 2023 to over 83% in 2025. Across India, 1.05 crore loans worth ₹17,800 crore have been disbursed under the scheme. Among them, 51.84 lakh loans were provided to women street vendors, benefiting 34.81 lakh women. Around 60 lakh loans have been fully repaid, and nearly 40% of beneficiaries have moved to obtaining loans from other formal banking institutions. The scheme’s first loan tranche was increased from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000, and it has a target of distributing 1.5 crore loans.

Nausena Shaurya Vatika Inaugurated in Lucknow

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the open-air naval museum “Nausena Shaurya Vatika” in Lucknow. The museum has been built on two acres of land near Ekana Cricket Stadium and developed as the second phase of the Indian Navy’s memorial museum, “Nausena Shaurya Sangrahalaya”. During the event, Operation Sindoor and the role of the Indian Navy were highlighted, with the Navy’s deployment in the Arabian Sea being noted.

NFHS-6: Women’s Education and Digital Access

The National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6), 2023-24 reported progress in women’s education, digital access and economic indicators in India. Women attending school increased from 71.8% in NFHS-5 (2019-21) to 73.7% in NFHS-6, while women with more than 10 years of schooling increased from 41% to 46.4%. Internet usage among women nearly doubled from 33.2% to 64.3%. Women’s ownership of house or land increased from 14% to 18.8%, though it remained below 20%. Among women aged 20–24 years, 20.1% were married before the legal age of 18 years, compared with 23.3% in NFHS-5. Female sterilisation remained the major method of family planning at 36.5%, down from 37.9%. Spousal violence among ever-married women aged 18–49 years declined from 29.2% in NFHS-5 to 22.3% in NFHS-6. State-wise, reported spousal violence was 36.1% in Bihar, 30.8% in Telangana, 28.5% in Tamil Nadu, 28.5% in Uttar Pradesh, 22.7% in Andhra Pradesh, and 17.7% in Kerala. Among adults aged 15 years and above, tobacco use declined to 34.6% among men and 7.2% among women, while alcohol consumption was reported by 18.2% of men and 0.7% of women.

CoBRA Commandos Deployed in Manipur

The Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the deployment of CRPF CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) commandos in Manipur to conduct special operations against armed groups amid the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities since May 2023. The violence has resulted in over 260 deaths and displacement of thousands of people into relief camps. Under this decision, the 207th CoBRA Battalion from West Bengal and the 210th CoBRA Battalion from Assam will be moved to Manipur. The two battalions together comprise around 2,000 commandos and are expected to be deployed in the coming weeks. The CoBRA unit was created within the CRPF in 2008 to combat Naxalite extremism and insurgent groups in the Northeast, and currently consists of 10 battalions specialized in operations in dense forests and counter-guerrilla warfare.

Reports and Indices

Rise in Internet Usage Among Indian Women

According to the National Family Health Survey – NFHS-6, the percentage of Indian women using the internet increased to 64.3% in 2023-24 from 33.3% in the NFHS-5 (2019-2021) report. The survey also recorded an increase in women possessing bank accounts, rising from 78.6% during 2019-2021 to 89% in 2023-24.

NFHS-6: Rural Women Face Higher Spousal Violence

According to National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) data released for 2023-24, gender-based violence in India declined from 29.2% (2019-21) to 22.3%. Among ever-married women aged 18-49 years, spousal violence reduced to 22.3%, but it remained higher in rural areas (24.4%) than in urban areas (17.5%). Physical violence during pregnancy among married women also declined from 3.1% to 2.7%, with rural women (2.9%) reporting higher incidence than urban women (2.3%). NFHS-6 also noted that some states, especially southern states, recorded spousal violence levels above the national average. States and Union Territories such as Kerala, Mizoram, Goa, Lakshadweep, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands reported an increase since 2021. States with spousal violence rates above the national average include Bihar (36.1%), Telangana (30.8%), Tamil Nadu (28.5%), Uttar Pradesh (28.5%), Jharkhand (27%), Puducherry (25.7%), and Andhra Pradesh (22.7%).

PRS Report 2025: State Assemblies Passed More Bills with Fewer Sittings

According to the PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025, covering 27 States and 3 Union Territories, state legislatures in India passed more than 600 Bills in 2025, the highest in recent years, while meeting for an average of only 24 days. The report noted that Odisha recorded the highest number of sitting days with 43, while Nagaland had the lowest with 7 days. About 30% of Bills were passed on the same day of introduction, and fewer than one in twenty Bills were referred to committees for scrutiny. The report highlighted that the Jharkhand Assembly functioned for 21 years without a Deputy Speaker, despite Article 178 of the Constitution of India mandating a full-time Deputy Speaker. Tamil Nadu Assembly met for 39 days in 2025 and discussed its Budget for 27 days; along with Goa and Haryana, it placed 100% of proposed expenditure before the House for discussion. States issued 127 Ordinances in 2025, up from 100 in 2024, with local governance and education forming major sectors. Thirteen states established new universities, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu introduced measures against coercive microfinance lenders.

Healing Peptides Research

Researchers from IIT-Bombay and the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany published a study on improving peptide-based drug discovery for diseases such as cancer. The research focused on protein-protein interactions, especially between the proteins p53 and MDM2. The p53 protein helps destroy damaged or cancerous cells, while MDM2 suppresses p53 activity. Researchers designed stapled peptides, engineered molecules that mimic p53 and bind with MDM2, thereby preventing MDM2 from suppressing p53. Using computer simulations (in-silico approaches), the study examined the role of water molecules, entropy, and thermodynamics in peptide binding. The findings showed that stapled peptides can improve binding stability and efficiency, which may support the development of lower-dose and more effective treatments in fields such as oncology and immunology.

Chennai Airport Passenger Traffic Ranking

Chennai Airport has become the 6th busiest airport in India in passenger traffic, falling behind Kolkata Airport and other major metro airports. In April 2026, Chennai recorded 17.39 lakh passengers, while Kolkata Airport recorded 17.64 lakh passengers. Bengaluru Airport, which was behind Chennai a decade ago, has emerged as the 3rd busiest airport in India, handling 36.85 lakh passengers in April 2026, and recorded 31.7 lakh domestic passengers, surpassing Mumbai Airport in domestic traffic. According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, passenger traffic at Chennai is expected to rise after completion of the new integrated terminal building and upcoming airside works. Delays in opening the Plaza and T3 International Terminal have continued, with the T3 project expected to be completed by the end of the year. The proposed Parandur Second Airport Project for Chennai has gained importance, with industry bodies such as the South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) highlighting the need for a second airport to improve connectivity and infrastructure.

NFHS-6 Reports Rise in Obesity and C-Section Births

The National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported a rise in obesity, diabetes and Caesarean births in India. Among people aged 15-49 years, obesity among women increased from 24% in NFHS-5 to 30.7% in NFHS-6, while among men it increased from 22.9% to 27.3%. Diabetes among persons taking medicines for insulin resistance rose from 13.5% to 17.8% in women and from 15.6% to 20.9% in men. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu recorded high prevalence of overweight, obesity and diabetes. The survey reported Caesarean deliveries at 27.2% nationally, compared with 21.5% in the previous survey, with Telangana (62.2%), Andhra Pradesh (52.2%) and Tamil Nadu (46.9%) recording the highest rates. Caesarean births accounted for 54.1% in private hospitals and 16.9% in government hospitals, while urban areas recorded 40.5% compared with 22.8% in rural areas. Conducted during 2023-24 with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai as the nodal agency, NFHS-6 covered nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts.

NFHS-6: Child Nutrition in India

The latest National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6) revealed that only 15.3% of children aged 6–23 months receive an adequate diet, compared with 11% in NFHS-5. The survey also recorded a decline in exclusive breastfeeding among children below six months, from 63.7% in NFHS-5 to 55.8% in NFHS-6. At the same time, the share of children aged 6–8 months receiving solid or semi-solid food along with breast milk increased from 45.9% to 59.5%. The comparison between NFHS-5 (2019-21) and NFHS-6 (2023-24) indicates improvement in reducing child undernutrition in India, though nutrition challenges remain significant.

Sports News

RCB Retains IPL Championship

In the IPL Final held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets to retain the championship title. Chasing a target of 156 runs, RCB scored 161/5 in 18 overs. Virat Kohli remained unbeaten with 75 runs off 42 balls, while Washington Sundar top-scored for Gujarat Titans with an unbeaten 50 runs. Rasikh Salam took 3 wickets for 27 runs for RCB. With this victory, RCB became the third team in IPL history to successfully defend its title. Earlier, Chennai Super Kings achieved this in 2010 and 2011, and Mumbai Indians in 2019 and 2020. The champion RCB team received a prize amount of Rs.20 crore.

Satwik–Chirag Win Singapore Open Title

India’s men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the championship title at the Singapore Open Badminton Tournament. In the men’s doubles final held in Singapore, the world No. 4 Indian pair defeated the world No. 3 Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri with a score of 18-21, 21-17, 21-16. This was the pair’s first international title in two years. They had last won a title at the Thailand Open 2024. The duo also became the first Indian pair to win the Singapore Open title.

PSG Wins Champions League Title

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) won the Champions League Football Tournament title by defeating Arsenal in the final held at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary. The match ended 1-1 in regulation time, with Havertz scoring for Arsenal in the 6th minute and Dembélé scoring for PSG in the 65th minute. After extra time ended without additional goals, PSG won the penalty shootout 4-3 and retained the championship title.

International News

BrahMos Missile Export to Indonesia

Union Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh stated that India’s agreement to export BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to Indonesia has reached the final stage. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Summit held in Singapore, he said that the BrahMos missile deal with Vietnam has already been signed, though an official announcement is pending. The agreement with Vietnam is reportedly valued at about Rs.5,800 crore and includes coastal defence missiles, batteries, training, and logistical support. In 2022, Philippines became the first foreign country to acquire BrahMos missiles through a deal worth about 375 million US dollars. The development is significant in the context of long-standing maritime tensions in the South China Sea involving China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

India–Oman CEPA Comes into Effect

The India–Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into effect from Monday. Under this agreement, 98% of tariff lines, covering 99.4% of India’s exports to Oman, will receive zero-duty access. In return, India will open 77% of its tariff lines for Oman, covering 94% of Oman’s exports to India. This agreement is India’s 15th bilateral trade agreement. India’s key benefits are expected in merchandise exports, while Oman’s gains are concentrated in energy and industrial inputs. The agreement also covers more than 6,000 India–Oman joint ventures and over 7.5 billion US dollars of Indian investments, mainly in the Sohar and Salalah Free Zones.

Israel–Lebanon Conflict: Beaufort Castle Seized

Israel captured the historic Beaufort Castle (Qalaat al-Chakif) in Lebanon on Sunday. Following this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced further military operations inside Lebanon against Hezbollah. The Iran-backed Hezbollah group stated that it targeted Israeli military positions in Shlomi and Nahariya in northern Israel. The conflict intensified after March 2, and a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that began on April 17 was not implemented. Concerned over the developments, France requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The UNSC scheduled an emergency meeting on Israel’s military actions in Lebanon. French President Emmanuel Macron also called for an immediate halt to hostilities and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

IIT-Madras HYDRA Centre for Ship Testing

IIT-Madras is planning to establish the HYDRA Centre at its satellite campus in Thaiyur near Chennai for testing ship and submarine designs. The facility will include a half-kilometre towing tank, where scaled models of ships and submarines will be tested to study resistance, stability, wave patterns, propulsion efficiency, and manoeuvrability. The centre is expected to strengthen India’s self-reliance in maritime and naval engineering and support work on warships, submarines, and underwater platforms. The initiative is supported by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. A related facility, the circulating water tunnel, built at a cost of ₹4.5 crore, is used to study turbulence, drag, and water flow behaviour around objects such as propellers, offshore platforms, bridge pillars, and underwater structures. Another proposed collaboration between IIT-Madras and MDL involves developing high-efficiency multi-stage thermoelectric sub-zero refrigeration systems for submarines and small naval vessels using semiconductor devices based on the Peltier effect.

India’s First DORIS Beacon at IIT-Kanpur

IIT-Kanpur has installed India’s first DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite) ground beacon, a French satellite-tracking system that provides centimetre-level accuracy in tracking satellites and ground stations. The beacon is part of the global DORIS ground station network, in which satellites use signals from ground beacons and the Doppler effect to calculate their precise position and speed. The system is important for ocean altimetry, climate studies, earth gravity mapping, sea-level rise monitoring, glacier movement tracking, tectonic movement monitoring and precise satellite orbit determination. DORIS has been used in international missions such as Jason, Sentinel, CryoSat and the Indo-French SARAL/AltiKa mission. The station at IIT-Kanpur’s National Centre for Geodesy (NCG) strengthens India’s role in global space geodesy and supports applications in surveying, mapping, satellite navigation, disaster management, smart city planning, precision agriculture, water resource management, weather forecasting and remote sensing. In 2022, the International DORIS Service (IDS) invited global proposals for a DORIS station, and IIT-Kanpur was selected based on technical and scientific criteria, including its strategic location on the Indian tectonic plate.

Economy News

Decline in Market Capitalisation of Top Companies

Indian stock markets ended the week in decline, with the BSE Sensex falling by 639.61 points (0.84%) and the NSE Nifty declining by 171.55 points (0.72%). The combined market capitalisation of 7 out of the top 10 listed companies fell by about Rs.1.54 lakh crore in one week. Reliance Industries recorded the highest decline of Rs.46,078 crore, taking its market value to Rs.17,87,039 crore. HDFC Bank lost Rs.33,333.06 crore, followed by Bharti Airtel with a decline of Rs.25,408.96 crore. Market valuations of TCS, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, and ICICI Bank also registered declines during the week.

RBI Revenue and Dividend in FY 2025–26

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) transferred a record dividend of Rs. 2.87 lakh crore to the Central Government for FY 2025–26. During the financial year, the RBI’s total income increased by 26% to Rs. 4.28 lakh crore, while total expenditure stood at Rs. 1.41 lakh crore. A major source of revenue was foreign exchange transactions, which generated Rs. 1.69 lakh crore after the RBI sold 195 billion US dollars to support the Indian Rupee. Interest earned from rupee securities rose to Rs. 1.18 lakh crore, and interest from foreign securities increased to Rs. 1.08 lakh crore. The RBI reduced the repo rate by 125 basis points and purchased nearly Rs. 9 lakh crore worth of Central Government bonds to maintain liquidity. Key expenditures included Rs. 4,875 crore for printing currency notes, Rs. 10,136 crore towards employee costs, and Rs. 1.09 lakh crore as provisions. The Contingent Risk Buffer was maintained at 6.5% of the balance sheet.

New IIP Series with FY 2022–23 Base Year

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will release the first monthly industrial growth data under the new Index of Industrial Production (IIP) series based on FY 2022–23 as the base year, replacing 2011–12. This is the 10th revision of the All India IIP base year, with the first IIP introduced using 1937 as the base year. The new series includes a net addition of 56 item groups, with 120 new item groups added and 64 item groups removed. Newly added items include debit and credit cards with magnetic stripes, CCTV cameras, aircraft and spacecraft parts, stents and vaccines. The total number of item groups has increased from 407 to 463. The six use-based categories remain unchanged: Primary Goods, Capital Goods, Intermediate Goods, Infrastructure/Construction Goods, Consumer Durables, and Consumer Non-Durables. The sectors of Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity are retained, while Gas Supply, Water Supply, Sewerage and Waste Management activities are newly included. The new series also separately identifies electricity generation from renewable sources. Monthly IIP data will continue to be released on the 28th day of the following month at 4 PM.

Personalities, Awards and Events

Admiral Krishna Swaminathan Becomes India’s 27th Navy Chief

Admiral Krishna Swaminathan assumed charge as India’s 27th Chief of the Naval Staff on May 31, succeeding Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, who retired after 41 years of service. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command. Following his appointment, he identified peak operational readiness as the Indian Navy’s primary priority amid the evolving regional maritime security environment.

Tamil Nadu News

Olive Ridley Turtle Deaths Decline in Tamil Nadu

During the 2025–26 Olive Ridley turtle nesting season, Tamil Nadu reduced Olive Ridley turtle mortality from 1,575 to 786, recording a 50% decline. The reduction was linked to stricter enforcement of fishing regulations, increased use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), patrolling, and awareness programmes among fishing communities. Across 52 hatcheries in coastal districts, 1,986 nests were protected, 2,29,668 eggs were collected, and 1,91,560 hatchlings were released into the sea. Chennai emerged as the leading nesting centre with 656 nests, 74,143 eggs, and 51,569 hatchlings, followed by Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. A seasonal ban on mechanised fishing was enforced from January to April within five nautical miles of nesting areas, and 2,663 TEDs were distributed to fishermen. Researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation fitted 10 Olive Ridley turtles with satellite transmitters and 89 turtles with flipper tags to study migration and nesting patterns along the Tamil Nadu coast.

Chennai Suburban Railway Completes 95 Years

The Chennai Suburban Railway Service completed 95 years of operation in 2026. The suburban rail network in Chennai began in 1931 with the launch of the 29 km electric suburban rail service between Chennai Beach and Tambaram, making Chennai the first city in South India to receive an electric suburban railway service. The network was later extended to Gummidipoondi and Arakkonam in 1985, and subsequently to Chengalpattu, creating an integrated rail network connecting the northern, western and southern suburbs of Chennai. A major milestone in urban rail transport was the MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System) project, which started between Chennai Beach and Chepauk in 1995, extended to Thirumayilai in 1997, Velachery in 2007, and later to St. Thomas Mount (Parangimalai). The system now operates hundreds of daily services and remains one of India’s busiest transit systems. The minimum suburban rail fare continues at ₹5, and AC suburban train services were introduced on the Beach–Chengalpattu route from last year.

States’ News

Nagaland’s New Frog Species Discovery

A new cascade-dwelling frog species, Amolops kamal, commonly called the Nagaland Cascade Frog, has been discovered in Nagaland by a team of six scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The species was recorded in August 2024 from hill-stream habitats near Singrep village in Kiphire district, near the Myanmar border. The species was named after Kamal Choudhury, former teacher at B. Borooah College, Guwahati. The study was conducted by Bhaskar Saikia, Bikramjit Sinha, A. Shabnam, Prabir Narayan Konwar, Mridul Kumar Borthakur, and K.P. Dinesh and published in Records of the Zoological Survey of India. Molecular phylogenetic and taxonomic analyses confirmed that Amolops kamal is a distinct evolutionary lineage within the Amolops indoburmanensis species complex. The Asian frog genus Amolops has 90 recognised species, including 20 species in India, and Indian species are mainly grouped under Amolops marmoratus, Amolops monticola, and Amolops viridimaculatus.