India has strengthened its framework for exchanging tax information with foreign jurisdictions, marking a major step toward faster detection of offshore tax evasion and undisclosed foreign assets. While the revised system does not introduce new taxes, experts say it significantly enhances the Income Tax Department’s enforcement capabilities through stricter timelines, better coordination, and greater monitoring.

According to Rahul Charkha, Partner, Economic Laws Practice, India’s updated framework is “an administrative and enforcement upgrade, rather than a procedural change." The country already exchanged tax information through treaties, Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), the Multilateral Convention, FATCA, and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said that a director on the board of co-operative banks who has served continuously for 10 years can be reappointed to the same board only after a three-year cooling-off period.

Also, during this period, the director cannot be involved with the bank in any role except as a regular member or customer. However, this does not prevent them from becoming a director on the board of another bank.

RBI said, “For calculating the period of continuous tenure, the total time served on the board of the UCB, including the period of directorship preceding an interruption of less than three years, but excluding the period of directorship preceding at least a three-year interruption, shall be reckoned.”

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is set to host India’s first and largest National AI and Digital Water Summit 2026 in Bengaluru on Wednesday, bringing together global experts, policymakers, technology leaders, startups, and urban planners to deliberate on the future of intelligent urban water management, said BWSSB Chairman Ram Prasath Manohar.

The summit comes at a time when cities across the world are facing growing challenges arising from climate change, rapid urbanisation, groundwater depletion, and increasing pressure on civic infrastructure. BWSSB aims to position Bengaluru as a leading model for technology-driven and sustainable urban water governance.

Neelam Meena, a senior IAS officer of the Bengal cadre, was appointed the new Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal on Monday (May 25, 2026). The outgoing CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal was recently appointed as the Chief Secretary of the State after the Bharatiya Janta Party came to power in West Bengal.

“I am directed to forward herewith the Commission’s Notification No.154/WB/2026-P.Admn, dated 25.05.2026 appointing Smt. Neelam Meena, IAS (WB:1998), as the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, in place of Sh. Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS,” a letter from the Principal Secretary of the State addressed to the CEO office of West Bengal stated on Monday (May 25, 2026).

For the first time ever, Team India will be representing the country at the World Apnea Pool Championship in Budapest starting June 2, 2026. This is a major milestone for the growth of freediving in India. This moment also comes in the same year the Freediving Association of India (FAI) was formed by Archana Sankaranarayanan, an 11-time national record holder. Earlier this year, FAI became an Observer Member of AIDA International as AIDA India, giving Indian freedivers official representation at the global level.
Under AIDA India, three athletes will represent India at the 2026 World Apnea Pool Championship:

- Archana Thiagarajan - India's leading freediver, holding all national records in both pool and depth disciplines, and the first Indian to compete at a World Championship in Wakayama, Japan (2025).
- Akshay Thatte - India's first Freediving Instructor Trainer, leading pool freediver and four-time national record holder.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed an eight-member panel to study issues related to quantum technology and recommend a roadmap and framework to quantum-secure the Indian financial system.

Anil Prabhakar, professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, will be the convenor of the panel and the FinTech Department of the RBI will provide secretarial support to the committee.

“Quantum technology represents a paradigm shift compared with traditional systems as it leverages the principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement. This enables quantum systems to address complex financial problems such as portfolio optimisation, risk assessment, macroeconomic modelling, etc,” the RBI said while highlighting the introduction of significant risks, particularly the potential to undermine certain existing cryptographic standards.

In a first for Asian equity markets, Taiwan has displaced India to claim fifth place in the global market capitalisation rankings. The rise has been swift and concentrated, fuelled almost entirely by the artificial intelligence-driven surge in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Currently Taiwan's market cap stands at $4.95 trillion while pushing India to sixth rank with market cap at $4.92 trillion.

The United States remains the world's largest market with a market cap of $77.96 trillion, followed by China and Japan with market caps of $15.57 trillion and $8.67 trillion respectively. Hong Kong ranks fourth with a market cap of $7.26 trillion.

Padma Awards, India's highest civilian honours, are given to recognise exceptional service and contribution across fields such as art, public affairs, literature, medicine, sports, science and social work. Instituted in 1954, the awards are announced every year on the eve of Republic Day. This year, the President has approved 131 Padma awards, including five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards.

President Droupadi Murmu will confer the awards in two phases at a Civil Investiture Ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, beginning Monday. The ceremony will be attended by Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other dignitaries. The remaining awardees will be honoured in a later second phase.

The awards are presented in three categories: Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

India and Russia held discussions on further deepening their military partnership during the 5th Sub Working Group (Land) meeting.

Sharing the details in a post on X, the Indian Army said that the meeting took place under the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) on Military & Military Technical Cooperation, marking another significant milestone in strengthening defence ties between the Indian Army and the Russian Land Forces.

The post added, "Both sides held productive deliberations aimed at enhancing mutual learning, operational synergy and bilateral military capabilities, further reinforcing the longstanding India-Russia defence partnership."

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is likely to issue Request for Proposal (RFP) to one of the three shortlisted private sector consortium towards the end of this month, having completed legal and other scrutiny to roll out the process of manufacturing five fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Sources stated that the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA)—the nodal DRDO lab responsible for designing and mentoring the AMCA project—has nearly completed its evaluation of the proposals submitted by the three shortlisted consortia. These bidders include Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), competing independently; a consortium led by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), and Dynamatic Technologies Ltd ; and a tripartite consortium of Bharat Forge, BEML, and Data Patterns.