U.S. President Donald Trump commenced a high-stakes three-day visit to Beijing on May 13, 2026, marking a pivotal moment in contemporary international relations. For UPSC aspirants, this summit is a textbook study of “Transactional Diplomacy” and the “Great Power Competition” between the world’s two largest economies. The primary catalyst for this meeting is the ongoing…
भारत की समष्टि आर्थिक (macroeconomic) स्थिरता की रक्षा के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण कदम उठाते हुए, केंद्र सरकार ने सोने और चांदी पर प्रभावी आयात शुल्क को पिछले 9.2% से बढ़ाकर 18.4% कर दिया है। 13 मई, 2026 को जारी दो अलग-अलग अधिसूचनाओं के माध्यम से लागू यह निर्णय ऐसे समय में आया है जब पश्चिम…
In a significant move to safeguard India’s macroeconomic stability, the Union Government has doubled the effective import duty on gold and silver to 18.4% from the previous 9.2%. This decision, enacted through two separate notifications on May 13, 2026, comes at a time when the West Asia crisis has injected severe volatility into global crude…
राष्ट्रीय परीक्षण एजेंसी (NTA), जिसका गठन भारत की प्रवेश परीक्षा प्रणाली में पारदर्शिता, दक्षता और अंतरराष्ट्रीय मानकों को लाने के लिए किया गया था, आज एक ऐतिहासिक मोड़ पर खड़ी है। NEET-UG 2026 का रद्द होना, जिससे 22 लाख से अधिक चिकित्सा अभ्यर्थी प्रभावित हुए हैं, केवल एक साजो-सामान (logistical) विफलता नहीं है; यह शिक्षा…
The National Testing Agency (NTA), established to bring transparency, efficiency, and international standards to India’s entrance examination system, finds itself at a historic crossroads. The cancellation of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2026, affecting over 22 lakh medical aspirants, represents more than a logistical failure; it is a systemic collapse of trust in the centralizing…
The death of four cheetah cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on May 13, 2026, in a suspected leopard attack, serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges facing India’s ambitious wildlife conservation programmes. The cubs, born on April 11, were the first to be born in open forest since Project Cheetah was…
The Union government has notified the discontinuation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, effective July 1, 2026, triggering immediate calls for an all-India strike by MGNREGS workers on May 15 and severe criticism from farmer and labour organisations. The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha and the All India Kisan Sabha described the scheme as…
The India Meteorological Department unveiled a landmark advancement in meteorological science on May 13, 2026: a new forecast system capable of generating block-level predictions of the monsoon’s arrival across 15 States, covering approximately 3,196 blocks. Historically, monsoon arrival forecasts have been available only at the State or district level, meaning that farmers in a block…
The BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled for May 14-15, 2026, in New Delhi, under India’s chairmanship of the grouping, was immediately overshadowed by China’s announcement that Foreign Minister Wang Yi would not attend, citing “scheduling reasons” connected to U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. The Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, will represent Beijing…
India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index, accelerated to 3.48 percent in April 2026 from 3.40 percent in March, reaching a 13-month high even as it came in below most economists’ expectations. The acceleration was primarily driven by food and beverages inflation climbing to 4 percent from 3.7 percent, and a sharp rise…