Latest current affairs of the Day for 22 May 2025
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has initiated a comprehensive saturation drive across India for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme running until May 31, 2025. This effort seeks to include every eligible farmer under the scheme’s benefits, ensuring they receive timely financial support. Under the PM-KISAN scheme, the central government provides Rs 6,000 annually to eligible farmers in three instalments of Rs 2,000 each.
- The government announced a 4% reservation in the allotment of central government housing to persons with disabilities, marking a substantial move towards equity, dignity, and accessibility in public services.
- India’s first high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad has achieved a major construction milestone with 300 km of viaducts now complete.
- Union Heavy Industries Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy chaired a meeting in New Delhi on the rollout of electric buses under the PM e-Drive Scheme. The session primarily focused on the states of Telangana, Karnataka, Delhi, and Gujarat. The Ministry of Heavy Industries has informed that, under the current phase of the PM e-Drive Scheme, nearly 4,500 electric buses will be provided to Bengaluru, 2,000 to Hyderabad, 2,800 to Delhi, 1,000 to Ahmedabad, and 600 buses will be given to Surat.
- Gujarat has recorded a remarkable 32% increase in its Asiatic lion population over five years, with numbers climbing to 891 in 2025.
- An IndiGo pilot operating the Delhi-Srinagar flight which encountered a sudden hailstorm on Wednesday, initially sought Lahore air traffic control’s permission to briefly use the Pakistan airspace to avoid the turbulence but the request was rejected.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and seven others in connection with alleged irregularities in the award of civil works contracts worth over Rs 2,200 crore for the Kiru Hydroelectric Power Project in Kishtwar.
- Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence Ltd has entered into a strategic partnership with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG to supply artillery shells, explosives, and propellants which is the significant development in India’s private defence manufacturing sector.
- Lovely Professional University (LPU) has launched the world’s largest private scholarship for India’s armed forces. The ‘Jai Jawan Scholarship’ offers 100% tuition fee waivers to 22 lakh active defence and paramilitary personnel.
- Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL), in partnership with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is poised to play a pivotal role in India’s ambitious Project Kusha, the indigenous alternative to the Russian S-400 air defence system.
- The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre and the Indian Air Force not to release from service a woman officer, who was part of Operation Balakot and Operation Sindoor but was denied permanent commission.
- An All-Party Parliamentary delegation from India which led by MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, is visiting Japan from May 22 to 24, 2025, as part of a global outreach following the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The delegation’s visit underscores India’s unwavering stance of zero tolerance towards terrorism.
- United Kingdom signed an agreement handing sovereignty over the contested and strategically located Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The British government said that move ensures the future of a US-UK military base that is vital to British security. Under the agreement, the United Kingdom will pay Mauritius 136 million dollars per year to lease back the base for at least 99 years.