26th MAY 2026 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. Kerala Launched India's First Dedicated Elderly Welfare Department

Kerala has announced the formation of a dedicated department for elderly people -the first such initiative in India

Currently, welfare of the aged falls under the state's Social Welfare Department.

Kerala is India's most rapidly ageing state. Individuals aged 60 and above make up over 16.5% of the state's population, and this figure is projected to exceed 22% by 2036.

The Elderly Commission: The department operates alongside the historic Kerala State Elderly Commission, a quasi-judicial body designed to protect the rights of senior citizens, combat exploitation, and address loneliness.

Consolidation of Programs: The new department will absorb and oversee existing, highly localized elder care initiatives

Vayomithram: A mobile medical care initiative providing healthcare at the doorsteps of the elderly.

Samayaprabha: Daycare networks designed to promote social interaction among seniors.

Kerala Care Palliative Grid: A digital coordination network serving hundreds of thousands of ailing and bedridden individuals.

2. 37th-Anniversary Celebrations of SIDBI

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched three major digital portals and cluster-based initiatives during the 37th-anniversary celebrations of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in Mumbai.

RRB Co-Lending Portal: A platform to operationalise partnerships between SIDBI and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), improving credit flow in rural and underserved geographies

The SIDBI MachFin Mart will be a digital platform enabling MSMEs to access machines through a structured marketplace, supporting price discovery, standardisation, and technology adoption.

MoRE (Modernisation of Rural Enterprises): A focused initiative programme to provide transformational support to 10,000 rural micro and artisanal units over the next 3 years, through cluster-based interventions in such rural/artisanal clusters.

SIDBI

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) set up on 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament, acts as the Principal Financial Institution for Promotion,Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector as well as for co-ordination of functions of institutions engaged in similar activities.

3. Medical Innovations Patent Mitra: Innovators-to-Industry

The Indian Council of Medical Research launched India’s largest biomedical innovation and technology transfer platform, “Medical Innovations Patent Mitra: Innovators-to-Industry (I2I) Connect,” in New Delhi.

India is emerging as a global source of affordable healthcare technologies through stronger science-industry partnerships

ICMR launches first-of-its-kind Innovator–Industry Platform, transfers 41 Public Health Technologies to Industry

India witnesses first-ever transfer of inactivated KFD and Chandipura virus biomaterials to industry partners to strengthen biomedical research and vaccine manufacturing

“India has scientific capability to emerge as global leader in health technologies”: Member, NITI Aayog Dr Gobardhan Das

Medical Innovations Patent Mitra accelerates the journey of indigenous biomedical research from laboratories to people

Why patent is needed :

4. China Successfully Launched the Shenzhou-23 Spacecraft to the Tiangong Space Station

China successfully launched the Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft on May 24, 2026, sending three astronauts to the Tiangong space station.

The mission is a major milestone, as one crew member is slated to remain in orbit for a full year to study the physiological effects of long-duration spaceflight.

Launch Details

Launch Vehicle: Long March-2F Y23 carrier rocketLaunch Site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China

cornerstone of the mission is exploring human adaptability and the performance limits of a record-breaking 1-year stay in orbit by a single astronaut

The flight will execute autonomous, rapid rendezvous and docking maneuvers that act as vital testing milestones for China's goal of a crewed lunar landing by 2030.

The U.S. is seen as China’s top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.

Zhu Yangzhu (Mission Commander)Zhang Zhiyuan (Pilot)Li Jiaying (Payload Specialist, also known as Lai Ka-ying)

The Shenzhou-23 mission made global headlines as Li Jiaying, a computer forensics expert, became the first astronaut from Hong Kong to travel into space

5. PM-AJAY Portal & AJAY Mobile App to digitize and strengthen the implementation of SC welfare schemes.

PM-AJAY (Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana) is a 100% centrally sponsored welfare initiative

The PM AJAY Mobile App aims to provide mobile-based access to schematic services, village level last mile planning and implementation, improve field-level monitoring, facilitate real-time reporting, and strengthen transparency and digital governance.

The mobile application integrates the following major components:

Adarsh Gram Component from the existing PMAGY portal.

Grant-in-Aid (GIA) Component under PM AJAY.

Hostel Component under PM AJAY.

The PM-AJAY portal serves as the central command to enable milestone-linked fund flows.

For the Adarsh Gram component, the portal provides comprehensive national, state, and district-level dashboards to monitor model village development against 50 monitorable socio-economic indicators across 10 developmental domains.

It streamlines operations by automating milestone-linked tracking as soon as a Village Development Plan (VDP) is digitally approved.

Further, for the Grants-in-Aid (GIA) Component for skilling and employment, the portal serves as a centralized planning mechanism and management information system (MIS). This MIS aggregates state-wide data to track large-scale financial outlays and funding allocations for livelihoods.