17th May 2026 Current Affairs MCQ

May 17 marks the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — the day in 1865 when 20 European nations signed the first International Telegraph Convention in Paris, establishing what would later become the ITU. This makes the ITU the world's oldest intergovernmental organisation — older than the UN (1945) and even the Universal Postal Union (1874). The ITU is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, became a UN Specialised Agency in 1947, and manages the global radio frequency spectrum and international telecom standards. The 2026 theme is "Digital Innovation for Sustainable Development."

ASML — a Dutch company — holds a near-monopoly on Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are essential for manufacturing advanced chips at 7 nanometres and below. No country can build cutting-edge semiconductors without access to ASML's technology, making this partnership strategically critical for India's chip ambitions. The key outcome of the visit was ASML agreeing to open a service and training centre in India — enabling Indian engineers to work with the world's most advanced chip-manufacturing equipment. This fits into India's broader India Semiconductor Mission under the Semicon India programme.

The Netherlands is India's largest trade partner within the EU, with bilateral trade exceeding €15 billion annually. This is largely because of the Port of Rotterdam — Europe's largest port — which serves as the primary entry and distribution point for Indian goods entering the European continent. Key Indian exports include pharmaceuticals, textiles, and chemicals, while Dutch exports to India include machinery, electronics, and agricultural products. The Netherlands visit also produced agreements on water management cooperation for the Ganga delta, Mumbai coastal flooding, and the Krishna-Godavari delta — applying Dutch expertise in flood control and delta management.

India's fuel pricing liberalisation followed a step-by-step approach — petrol was deregulated in 2010, diesel in 2014, and LPG in 2026. Under the new LPG deregulation, the government-administered price fixation has been completely removed and Oil Marketing Companies (IOC, BPCL, HPCL) can now set prices based on market conditions. This is significant because India imports 55–60% of its LPG requirement, making administered pricing fiscally unsustainable during volatile global energy markets. Critically, BPL and Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries continue receiving subsidies through DBT — protecting the most vulnerable from market price swings.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched on May 1, 2016, in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, with the objective of providing free LPG connections to women from BPL households. The scheme initially targeted 5 crore connections — which it achieved — and was later expanded to 9 crore+ connections, including through Ujjwala 2.0 (launched August 2021) which extended coverage to migrant workers and homeless households. Even with LPG pricing now fully deregulated, Ujjwala beneficiaries continue receiving subsidies through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) — ensuring the scheme's social protection function remains intact.

The Harish Rana case is historic because it was the first time an Indian court specifically ordered the removal of life support — translating the landmark Common Cause vs Union of India (2018) Constitution Bench ruling into actual judicial practice. Harish Rana had been in a Permanent Vegetative State (PVS) since 2013 — 13 years. The 2018 Common Cause ruling had established that passive euthanasia is legal in India and that Advance Medical Directives (Living Wills) are valid — grounding both in Article 21 (Right to Life), which the Supreme Court interpreted to include the right to die with dignity. Active euthanasia remains illegal in India.

Eublepharis jhuma belongs to the family Eublepharidae — commonly known as eyelid geckos. What sets the genus Eublepharis apart from most gecko species is that they possess movable eyelids — most geckos have fixed, transparent scales over their eyes and cannot blink. India's most globally famous Eublepharis species is the Indian Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius) — one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. The discovery of Eublepharis jhuma expands the known diversity of this scientifically important genus and reflects India's rich and still-undocumented herpetological biodiversity.

Sonerila roxburghii was named after William Roxburgh (1751–1815) — a Scottish botanist and surgeon who served as the superintendent of the Calcutta Botanical Garden (now Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden) and is widely regarded as the "Father of Indian Botany." Roxburgh spent decades cataloguing Indian flora and his landmark work Flora Indica remains a foundational text in Indian botanical science. The plant belongs to the family Melastomataceae — a large tropical family known for distinctive parallel leaf venation and colourful flowers — and is part of the Sonerila genus which has over 200 species primarily found in tropical Asia.

The Delimitation Bill 2026 failed on April 17, 2026, because the NDA government could not secure the two-thirds majority (special majority) required for a constitutional amendment — the Bill proposed amending the Constitution to expand Lok Sabha seats. This directly delays implementation of the Women's Reservation Act (Constitution 106th Amendment, 2023), which mandated 33% seats for women only after delimitation is completed. The Bill's failure also reflects deep political tensions — southern states fear that any delimitation based on current population data will reduce their relative representation in Parliament, since northern states have grown faster demographically.

India withdrew from the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) in 2019, citing concerns that cheap Chinese goods would flood India's domestic market through other RCEP member countries. RCEP is the world's largest trade bloc — covering 15 Asia-Pacific nations including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and ASEAN members. India's selective FTA strategy since then has focused on partners where trade is complementary rather than competitive — the India-New Zealand FTA (2026) follows the India-UAE CEPA (2022) and India-Australia ECTA (2022) in this approach. New Zealand's membership of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance also gives this FTA strategic significance beyond trade.