Daily Current Affairs – May 3, 2026

India's top companies saw profits soar post-Covid. However, investments lagged. Chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran called for corporate introspection. He highlighted that companies accumulated cash instead of investing in real assets. This forced the public sector to drive growth. Nageswaran stressed the need for private sector investment to seize domestic opportunities and address trade deficits.

Parliamentary committees have flagged a consistent trend of central ministries failing to spend allocated budgets, leading to significant fund surrenders. Reports highlight poor budgeting and forecasting models across major ministries, including Defence, Petroleum, and Housing, with substantial reductions at the revised estimates stage and low utilization rates.

"This is the society's enduring ethos, which has survived for thousands of years. For various reasons, partly because of our indifference and partly because of foreign invasion, those who preserved this ethos paid a heavy price," says Mohan Bhagwat

The recent availability of India-manufactured generic Risdiplam offers a practical pathway, patients write in an appeal to the PM; access to treatment is time sensitive, with delays having the potential to cause irreversible deterioration in the life-limiting neuromuscular condition

Why are the hippos scheduled to be culled? Can Vantara house 80 hippos? Can wild animals be relocated to India?

What explains the years of simmering competition between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi? How will the UAE’s decision impact oil prices? How has its decision to leave impacted OPEC and OPEC+? Will this move benefit India and if so, how?

Foreign investors are not avoiding India due to AI exposure or tax issues, according to investor Shankar Sharma. Data shows markets with little AI have outperformed. India's own past performance contradicts the AI dependency narrative. FII flows and taxation show a weak link to market direction. Global markets perform well regardless of AI.

Nifty 50 traded within a narrow range, closing slightly higher amid rising volatility and weak momentum indicators. Markets remain in consolidation, with key resistance and support levels intact, while sector rotation suggests selective opportunities despite the absence of strong directional trends.

India is exploring partnerships with private equity firms including Blackstone and Brookfield to set up Reits aimed at monetizing fiber networks and land assets held by state-run companies, in a push that could also open the door to data centre-linked infrastructure plays.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra flagged persistent issues such as limited product diversity in interest rate derivatives and underdevelopment of credit derivatives.

The absence of Lakshya Sen proved costly as HS Prannoy joined Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth in defeat, losing 19-21, 16-21 to world No. 17 Toma Junior Popov, as India failed to win a single game in a completely one-sided contest

Ayush Shetty struggled to match Christo Popov’s tactical control, going down 11-21, 9-21 in 39 minutes