Mains General Studies Paper II

The United States military recently chased and seized an oil tanker from Russia's shadow fleet after it switched to a Russian flag for protection, drawing attention to how these vessels are increasingly adopting Russian identities to evade Western sanctions. This development, involving tankers carrying sanctioned oil from countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, underscores the growing challenges in global energy trade and enforcement of sanctions amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

The Supreme Court and several High Courts have increasingly adopted AI-powered tools to tackle persistent issues like case delays, translation barriers, and heavy workloads, with recent implementations showing significant efficiency gains. This comes amid a growing backlog of over 50 million cases across Indian courts, prompting the judiciary to leverage technology for faster justice delivery while maintaining human oversight.

The Ministry of Culture is finalizing the empanelment of over 20 private conservation architects through a Request for Proposal (RFP) that closes on January 12, 2026, allowing corporate donors to directly hire them for core conservation work at protected monuments. This marks the end of the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) sole responsibility for such tasks, aiming to speed up projects and build more capacity in heritage preservation amid growing needs for India's vast cultural sites.

The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, presented the National Energy Conservation Awards 2025 and prizes for the National Painting Competition on Energy Conservation during the celebrations of National Energy Conservation Day in New Delhi. This event underscores the government's focus on promoting energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and aligning with sustainable development goals, which are crucial for India's environmental commitments under global frameworks like the Paris Agreement.

US President Donald Trump referred to the US and China as the "G-2" ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, signaling a potential shift toward viewing the two nations as equal superpowers for global leadership, which has raised concerns among US allies about weakened commitments in the Indo-Pacific amid ongoing tensions with China.

The release of October 2025 GST collection data shows an overall 4.6 percent year-on-year growth to Rs 1.96 lakh crore, driven by festive spending, but highlights concerns as 20 states and Union Territories experienced revenue declines, underscoring persistent gaps where post-GST revenues lag behind pre-GST levels for most states, as revealed in recent analyses of state finances.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Bhutan next week, coinciding with the 70th birthday celebrations of former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, to inaugurate the 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu-II Hydropower Project and review progress on two new cross-border railway links, highlighting ongoing efforts to enhance energy security and connectivity between the two nations.

US President Donald Trump, in a White House press briefing, indicated a potential visit to India next year while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a great man and friend, noting India's reduced purchases of Russian oil, and confirming the postponement of the Quad leaders' summit to 2026 amid reviving trade negotiations to address tariff concerns.

The Madras High Court has made a landmark ruling by recognizing cryptocurrency as "property" under Indian law, providing legal protection to digital assets for the first time in a judicial decision. This came in a case where an investor's XRP holdings on the WazirX exchange were frozen after a 2024 cyberattack, allowing the court to grant interim relief and assert jurisdiction over such assets. The decision boosts investor confidence in a market where crypto is already taxed as virtual digital assets, but lacks full regulatory clarity, amid growing adoption in India with over 100 million users.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first in-person meeting in six years on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025. Trump described the talks as "amazing" and rated them "12 out of 10," announcing a tactical truce that includes China resuming soybean purchases from the US, a one-year suspension of Beijing's rare earth export controls, and a reduction in US tariffs on Chinese goods from 57% to 47%. This de-escalation, framed by Trump as a "G2" dialogue between the world's two largest economies, comes amid ongoing global trade tensions and raises questions about its implications for middle powers like India, which faces higher US tariffs on Russian oil imports while navigating Quad alliances and border frictions with China.

The 47th ASEAN Summit and related meetings wrapped up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 28, 2025, with leaders from 11 member nations focusing on economic resilience and regional stability amid escalating US-China trade frictions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the gathering virtually, pushing for an upgraded India-ASEAN free trade agreement and declaring 2026 as the year of maritime cooperation. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India in person, holding bilateral talks. This comes as the US imposed fresh tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting China to ink an upgraded free trade pact with ASEAN, highlighting the bloc's pivotal role in global supply chains and India's Act East policy.

The United States has imposed direct sanctions on two of Russia's largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, escalating its pressure campaign to force Moscow to end the Ukraine war. This move, announced on October 22, 2025, by the Trump administration, freezes assets of these firms and bars US entities from dealing with them, while carrying the implicit threat of secondary sanctions on third-country buyers like India. As India's top oil supplier—accounting for over 35% of its crude imports this year—these sanctions could sharply reduce Russian oil flows to Indian refineries, prompting a swift reassessment of energy procurement strategies amid ongoing US-India trade negotiations strained by earlier 25% tariffs on Indian goods.