Daily Current Affairs- 4th May 2026

Daily Current Affairs- 4th May 2026

Chief Justice Surya Kant Declares Sikkim First Paperless Judiciary in India

In the News: Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant declared Sikkim as India's first fully paperless state judiciary during the National Conclave on Technology and Judicial Education held at Gangtok. The announcement coincided with Sikkim's 50th Statehood Anniversary and marks a landmark milestone in India's judicial modernisation efforts.

Key Points:

• Historic Declaration: Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant formally declared Sikkim the country's first fully paperless judiciary state at a national conclave in Gangtok on May 1, 2026. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang Golay termed it a historic step towards building a faster, transparent, and technology-driven justice system.
• What a Paperless Judiciary Means: A paperless judiciary conducts all court processes digitally, encompassing e-filing of cases and documents, virtual hearings through video conferencing, digital case records in place of physical files, real-time online case tracking, and automated workflows for faster case management.
• Key Features of Sikkim's Model: Sikkim has achieved end-to-end digitisation covering petition filing to judgment delivery. Litigants can access courts without physical presence through virtual connectivity, reducing geographical barriers. Artificial Intelligence tools such as SUPACE (for legal research) and SUVAS (for translation of judgments into regional languages) have been integrated. E-Seva Kendras have also been expanded to assist citizens with limited digital literacy.
• e-Courts Mission Mode Project: Sikkim's achievement is part of the nationwide e-Courts Mission Mode Project, implemented under the guidance of the Supreme Court's e-Committee. The project has been rolled out in three phases since 2007, with Phase III approved in 2023 at an outlay of Rs 7,210 crore, focusing on creating a fully digital, paperless, and integrated judicial system with cloud-based infrastructure, universal e-filing, and digitisation of legacy records.

India and Cambodia Kick Off 2nd Edition of CINBAX-II Military Drill

In the News: The Indian Army contingent departed for Cambodia to participate in CINBAX-II 2026, the second edition of the India-Cambodia Bilateral Military Exercise. The exercise is scheduled to be held from May 4 to 17, 2026, at the Techo Sen Phnom Thom Mreas Prov Royal Cambodian Air Force Training Centre (Camp Basil), Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia.

Key Points:

• Exercise Overview: CINBAX-II 2026 is the second edition of the bilateral military exercise between India and Cambodia. It is being conducted under the framework of Chapter VII of the United Nations Mandate, with a focus on Company-level joint training for operations in a sub-conventional environment.
• Participating Contingents: The Indian Army contingent comprises 120 personnel, drawn majorly from a Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment. The Cambodian contingent consists of 160 personnel from the Royal Cambodian Army.
• Training Focus: The exercise is aligned with the current dynamics of Counter-Terrorism operations encountered by United Nations peacekeeping forces. It includes practical discussions, tactical exercises, and a comprehensive validation exercise. Special skill training in drone operations, mortar tactics, and sniper tactics will also be conducted.

Election Results 2026

In the News: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections for the first time in its history, defeating the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP won or was leading in 206 out of 294 seats, far surpassing its previous best of 77 seats in 2021, while the TMC was reduced to 87 seats.

Key Points:

• Historic Victory: The BJP's win in West Bengal marks the first time the party has secured a majority in the state, which holds special symbolic significance as it was the home state of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP's ideological forerunner. Voter turnout reached a record high of 92.93 percent, with nearly 68.2 million people casting their votes.
• Women's Vote: BJP insiders credited a significant swing in women's votes, estimated at around five percent in the party's favour, as a key factor. The narrative around opposition parties being anti-women gained traction, further boosted by the NDA government's push for women's reservation in the legislature. West Bengal had 3.16 crore women voters on the rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
• Government Employees and Youth: Anti-incumbency among government employees, denial of pay revision rights, and promises of implementing the Seventh Pay Commission within 45 days of coming to power resonated with an estimated 20 to 50 lakh voters. The BJP also made dedicated outreach efforts to first-time voters and the 1.31 crore voters aged between 20 and 29 on the electoral rolls.
• Law and Order and Security: The unprecedented deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) instilled voter confidence in a state historically associated with political violence during elections. High-profile cases such as the RG Kar rape and murder case also deepened anti-incumbency sentiment against the TMC on the issue of law and order.
• Electoral Roll Revision (SIR): The Special Intensive Revision exercise led to the removal of over 27 lakh names from the state's electoral rolls on grounds of logical discrepancies, which the BJP framed as the purification of rolls from alleged "outsiders." This exercise was credited by party insiders with ensuring that only eligible voters participated, and over 30 lakh more votes were polled compared to the 2021 elections.

Canada becomes First non-European Country to Attend an EPC Summit

In the News: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney became the first leader of a non-European country to attend a summit of the European Political Community (EPC), participating in its eighth meeting held in Yerevan, Armenia. The summit, co-chaired by European Council President António Costa and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, brought together more than 40 heads of state and government under the theme 'Building the Future: Unity and Stability in Europe.'

Key Points:

• Historic First for EPC: Canada became the first non-European nation to participate in an EPC summit, with Prime Minister Mark Carney attending the Yerevan meeting. European Council President António Costa described this as politically very significant, reflecting the strong and growing alignment between Europe and Canada.
• Canada's Strategic Objectives: Carney's participation is widely seen as an effort to build new trade and diplomatic alliances following the disruption of US markets under President Donald Trump. Canadian diplomats, however, have rejected suggestions that Canada is seeking European Union membership.
• About the EPC Summit: The eighth EPC summit was held in Yerevan, Armenia, marking the first time the European Political Community has convened in the South Caucasus region. The forum aims to foster political dialogue, strengthen security and stability, and advance connectivity and economic cooperation across the European continent.
• Armenia at the Centre: Yerevan was chosen as the host city to strengthen Armenia's ties with Europe. The EPC had earlier provided a platform for the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which culminated in a historic bilateral agreement. A separate EU-Armenia bilateral summit was also scheduled for May 4-5, 2026, the first ever of its kind.

India’s Private Sector Launches ‘Mission Drishti’ Earth Observation Satellite

In the News: Bengaluru-based space startup GalaxEye successfully launched Mission Drishti, the world's first OptoSAR satellite, aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg, California. Weighing 190 kilograms, it is the largest Earth observation satellite ever built by a private Indian company.

Key Points:

• Mission Drishti Launch: GalaxEye launched Mission Drishti on May 3, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg, California. The satellite has been successfully deployed into orbit, with initial imagery expected to be delivered to customers in the coming weeks.
• World's First OptoSAR Satellite: Mission Drishti is the first satellite globally to integrate Electro-Optical (EO) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform. This enables all-weather, day-and-night imaging capabilities, addressing long-standing limitations of conventional Earth observation systems.
• Dual-Use Applications: Mission Drishti supports a wide range of use cases including defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning, and is expected to complement ISRO's existing fleet of 29 Earth observation satellites.
• National Recognition: Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan hailed the launch as a significant step forward for India's commercial space ecosystem, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi described it as a testament to the youth's passion for innovation and nation-building.
• IN-SPACe Response: Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), noted that Mission Drishti reflects years of confidence-building and capacity-building in India's private space technology ecosystem, and expressed confidence that such milestones would attract greater global demand for Indian space capabilities.

Pathfinder to be India’s First AI Orbital Data Centre Satellite

In the News: Indian space-tech startup Pixxel announced a strategic partnership with AI firm Sarvam AI to develop Pathfinder, described as India's first orbital data centre satellite. The 200 kg satellite is scheduled to reach orbit by Q4 2026 and will host datacenter-class GPUs capable of training and running large language models directly in space.

Key Points:

• The Partnership: Pixxel will design, build, launch, and operate the Pathfinder satellite from its upcoming Gigapixxel facility, while Sarvam AI will provide the artificial intelligence backbone, handling both model training and inference directly in orbit without relying on foreign cloud infrastructure.
• What Makes Pathfinder Different: Unlike conventional satellites that use low-power edge processors optimised for survival, Pathfinder will carry datacenter-class Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) of the same generation as ground-based AI data centres, enabling frontier-level AI training and inference in space.
• Hyperspectral Imaging Capability: The satellite will also carry Pixxel's hyperspectral imaging camera, making it among the first satellites globally capable of capturing high-fidelity hyperspectral data and analysing it in real time using foundation models, eliminating the need to transmit large volumes of raw data back to Earth.
• Why Space Computing: Rising energy demands, land constraints, regulation, and environmental concerns are pushing companies to explore space-based alternatives. Global data centre capacity is projected to reach 200 GW by 2030, while India's own capacity could grow from 1.8 GW to approximately 10.5 GW by 2031, according to a Morgan Stanley estimate.

Prasoon Joshi Named Chairman of Prasar Bharati in Media Leadership Shift

In the News: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting appointed renowned lyricist, writer, and communications expert Shri Prasoon Joshi as the Chairman of Prasar Bharati, India's statutory public service broadcaster.

Key Points:

• New Chairman Appointed: Shri Prasoon Joshi has been named Chairman of the Prasar Bharati Board, effective May 2, 2026. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw congratulated the appointment, stating that Joshi's creative vision will bring renewed energy and purpose to public broadcasting in India.
• Profile of Prasoon Joshi: Joshi is a celebrated creative professional with contributions spanning film lyrics, advertising, literature, and public communication. He is widely recognized for his deep cultural sensibility and his ability to connect with diverse audiences across the country through socially resonant storytelling.
• Previous Roles: Before this appointment, Joshi served as Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) since August 2017, where he balanced creative expression with regulatory responsibility. He also served as CEO of McCann World Group India and Chairman of McCann World Group Asia Pacific, and has been a Trustee of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts since 2016.
• About Prasar Bharati: Established under the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, and operational since 1997, Prasar Bharati is India's autonomous public broadcaster comprising two major divisions: All India Radio (AIR), one of the world's largest radio networks, and Doordarshan (DD), the national television broadcaster. It has also launched the Waves OTT platform to strengthen free-to-air digital services.