ILO to Help Farmers Eliminate Child Labour and Forced Work in Cotton Fields Sub: IR Sec: Int organisation Background: Cotton and hybrid cotton seeds from India are still on the United States Labour Department’s “List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour”. Partnership: The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has […]

    Beijing, Manila and allies, launch drills near South China Sea flashpoint Subject: IR Sec: Places in news Context: China’s military has launched military drills near disputed waters in the South China Sea. The Southern Theatre Command it had carried out air and sea combat patrols “near Huangyan Island” the Chinese name for the Scarborough […]

    U.K. changed its stance on ICC arrest warrants Subject: IR Sec: Int org Context: Britain abandoned its intent to challenge the prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The latest move signals a second policy shift by the Labour […]

    Trade with Bangladesh Suspended; BSF on ‘High Alert’ at Border Sub: IR Sec: Places in news Suspension of Trade: Amidst ongoing unrest in Bangladesh, trade between India and Bangladesh remains suspended. BSF on High Alert: Director-General Visit: Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF), along with senior officials, visited the integrated checkpoint at […]

    The rise and fall of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ‘Iron Lady’ Subject: IR Sec: Places in news Context: Sheikh Hasina was born in 1947 in what was then East Pakistan to Begum Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — the founding father of Bangladesh and the country’s first president. Hasina, who took power […]

    Potential fallout of Israel’s killing of senior Hamas, Hezbollah leaders Subject: IR Sec: Places in news Context: Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas and the Qatar-based public face of the group, was killed in Tehran where he was attending the inauguration of the new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. More on News: […]

    On election of the European Commission president Subject: IR Sec: Int org Context: The newly constituted European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the European Union, elected Ursula von der Leyen, the EC’s first female President, for a second term. Ms. Von der Leyen, of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), won by a […]

    Migrants seeking refuge in Italy could be taken to Albania pending asylum decisions Subject: IR Sec: Places in news Context: Migrants rescued at sea while attempting to reach Italy may see themselves transported to Albania beginning next month while their asylum claims are processed, under a controversial deal in which the small Balkan […]