22nd May 2026 Current Affairs MCQ

May 22 marks the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) text in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, and the UN General Assembly designated this date as the International Day for Biological Diversity. The CBD itself entered into force on December 29, 1993, and India ratified it in February 1994. The day exists to spotlight the CBD's three core objectives — conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources. This year's theme, "Acting locally for global impact," reflects a growing emphasis on grassroots conservation efforts like the ones highlighted in Odisha.

The IBCA Summit was postponed specifically to align with the India-Africa Forum Summit IV (IAFS IV), since several African nations are key partners in big cat conservation given that lions, leopards, and cheetahs are primarily African species. IBCA was launched by PM Modi on April 9, 2023, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger, and covers 7 big cat species, of which India hosts 4 — Tiger, Asiatic Lion, Leopard, and Snow Leopard. By coordinating both events, India is combining conservation diplomacy with its broader Africa engagement strategy. The IAFS series itself has only been held three times before — 2008, 2011, and 2015 — making IAFS IV a rare and significant diplomatic moment.

INS Sanghmitra is named after Sanghamitra, the daughter of Emperor Ashoka, who famously carried a branch of the Bodhi Tree to Sri Lanka and helped spread Buddhism across South and Southeast Asia. The naming reflects India's cultural maritime heritage and its long history of Buddhist diplomacy across the region. The launch is part of India's broader Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence push, which aims to build more naval vessels domestically and reduce dependence on imports. This adds to India's growing fleet of indigenous warships, following milestones like INS Vikrant in 2022 and the Project 75 Scorpene-class submarines.

India will host the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on May 26, 2026, at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The Quad — comprising India, the USA, Japan, and Australia — was first formed in 2007, revived in 2017, and elevated to the Leaders' level in March 2021. The meeting's likely agenda spans West Asia tensions, South China Sea freedom of navigation, technology cooperation, and critical minerals supply chains. Notably, India hosting Quad foreign ministers while simultaneously chairing BRICS 2026 is a clear demonstration of India's strategic autonomy on the world stage.

The CBI informed a parliamentary panel that the NEET 2026 paper leak did not originate from NTA's core digital system, ruling out a central server breach. Instead, the leak most likely occurred at peripheral points — such as the printing or physical distribution stage — in specific states. Nine arrests have been made across Rajasthan, Haryana, and Maharashtra, pointing to a distributed, state-level network rather than a centrally organised job. This finding is significant because it weakens calls to dismantle NTA entirely and instead strengthens the case for tighter security specifically around the physical paper distribution chain.

COP31 will be held in Antalya, Türkiye — the very first time Türkiye has hosted a COP. This is a notable milestone given that Türkiye only ratified the Paris Agreement in October 2021. The COP31 President-Designate, Murat Kurum, Türkiye's Environment Minister, has called for aggressive global acceleration in economy-wide electrification to phase out fossil fuels. This continues the recent COP sequence — Dubai (2023), Baku (2024), Belém (2025) — and keeps the spotlight on rapid decarbonisation strategies heading into 2026.

The Strait of Hormuz blockade has driven crude oil prices higher, and since India imports around 85% of its crude oil, every dollar increase in crude adds roughly ₹8,000–10,000 crore to the annual import bill. More oil imports require more dollar outflows, which weakens the rupee. This combined with FII capital outflows to safer havens like the US dollar and gold, plus India's widening trade deficit of $333.2 billion in FY26, created sustained pressure on the currency. In response, the RBI has been selling dollars from its $640 billion forex reserves to stabilise the rupee under India's managed float exchange rate regime.

The National Statistics Office's Quarterly Bulletin on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (QBUSE) reported that establishments in India's unincorporated non-agricultural sector rose to 9.16 crore, a 16.69% year-on-year jump, with employment growing to 15.17 crore workers. This is a sharp rise from the 7.92 crore establishments recorded in the ASUSE 2023-24 survey. Rural India is driving much of this expansion, fuelled by post-pandemic recovery, growing SHG-linked enterprises, and wider UPI adoption making it easier for small rural businesses to operate. This sector — covering small shops, tailors, and repair workshops — remains the backbone of India's informal employment.

ECLSS stands for Environmental Control and Life Support System — the system responsible for keeping astronauts alive in space by managing oxygen generation, carbon dioxide removal, temperature and humidity control, water recycling, and pressure regulation inside the crew module. ISRO advancing ECLSS testing marks a genuinely critical step toward Gaganyaan's crewed mission, currently targeted for 2026-27. Before any humans fly, ISRO's humanoid robot Vyomamitra will test these life support systems on uncrewed missions, building confidence in the system's reliability ahead of the real crewed flight.

Raja Rammohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828, India's first organised social reform movement, built on the principles of monotheism and rationalism. Often called the "Father of Modern India," he campaigned relentlessly against Sati, and his efforts directly led to Lord William Bentinck enacting the Bengal Sati Regulation Act of 1829, which formally abolished the practice. He also founded the earlier Atmiya Sabha in 1815, which eventually evolved into the Brahmo Samaj, and championed women's rights, including inheritance and the abolition of child marriage. His legacy remains relevant today given India's ongoing social reform discourse around women's empowerment and tribal rights.