News Summary · 5 minutes read
Stay ahead in your UPSC CSE preparation with our daily News Summary. Designed to save time, it highlights key national and international events from leading newspapers and government websites.
20th G-20 summit
- Also called 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit or 2025 G20 Johannesburg summit → held in Johannesburg (South Africa) on 22–23 November 2025 under the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa’s President). → 1st G20 summit in Africa.
- Notable non-participation
- The US formally boycotted the summit.
- Russian president could not participate due to arrest warrant against him by International Criminal Court.
- Top leaders of Mexico, Argentina, China, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia did not participate → they sent representatives.
- 122‑point Johannesburg Leaders’ Declaration was adopted, which calls for:
- Multilateralism
- Commitment to UN Charter
- Peaceful settlement of disputes.
- UNSC reforms
- Greater representation for Africa, Asia–Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean in global decision‑making.
- PM Modi highlighted the philosophy of Integral Humanism, which was propounded by Jana Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyay in 1965.
- PM Modi proposed 6 ideas:
- G20 Global Traditional Knowledge Repository
- G20 Africa Skills Multiplier
- G20 Global Healthcare Response Team
- G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership
- G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative
- G20 Initiative on Countering the Drug Terror Nexus
- Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation (ACITI) Partnership: announced by PM Modi to deepen cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, resilient supply chains, clean energy, and artificial intelligence.
- Fentanyl: a synthetic opioid, used medically for relieving pain, but it is also illegally manufactured and sold, leading to widespread addiction and deaths → highlighted by PM Modi as a serious challenge to public health, social stability, and global security, and serving as a channel for financing terrorism
G20
- Founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98 as an informal forum to discuss international economic and financial stability → gradually expanded its agenda to include topics such as climate change, sustainable development, health, and agriculture, etc.
- Members (21)
- Countries (19): Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and USA.
- Regional bodies (2): European Union (EU) and African Union (AU).
- Represents around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds (66.7%) of the world population.
- Upgraded to the level of Heads of State/Government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and in 2009, when it became apparent that the necessary crisis coordination would only be possible at the highest political level.
- Lacks a permanent secretariat.
- Presidency rotates annually among the members and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries → 19 member countries are divided into 5 groups:
- India belongs to Group 2 (India, Russia, South Africa and Türkiye).
- Notably, the EU and the AU are not members of any groups.
- G20 troika: made up of the current, immediate past and next host countries → during 20th summit, troika includes Brazil, South Africa and the US.
Integral Humanism
- Propounded by Deen Dayal Upadhyay in 1965 → Inspired by Advaita Vedanta and the Gandhian vision (Swadeshi, small-scale industries, and ethical governance) of future India.
- Proposes an indigenous development model centred on humans.
- Rejects both Western capitalist individualism and Marxist socialism for their materialism → seeks a middle ground between capitalism and socialism.
- Advocates a balanced approach that integrates body, mind, intellect, and soul, emphasising dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.
- Views society as an organic whole with a national ethos, promoting social harmony, a decentralised economy, and dignity for all, aligning material progress with spiritual and moral growth.
Snakebite envenomation
- Recognised as a neglected tropical disease by WHO → causes nearly 1 lakh annual deaths worldwide.
- India bears the largest burden globally → nearly 50% of global snakebite deaths.
- In India, mainly 4 snakes are responsible for most snakebite deaths:
- Indian cobra
- Common krait
- Russell’s viper → responsible for most bites
- Saw-scaled viper
e-KYC norm and fake MGNREGA workers
- MGNREGA covers 26 crore registered workers across 2.69 lakh gram panchayats.
- Recently, the Union govt started pushing for e-KYC verification of MGNREGA workers to weed out ineligible workers → coincided with a spike in the deletions of the names of workers.
- Centre has been taking steps to prevent MGNREGA frauds, and e-KYC is one of them. This topic has already been covered HERE.
Quick Picks for Prelims (QPP)
- UP CM Yogi Adityanath has instructed all District Magistrates to take action against illegal immigrants and establish temporary detention centres in each district.
- 7 districts of UP share an open border with Nepal, which infiltrators try to misuse.
- 4 new labour codes of India became effective from 21 November 2025:
- Code on Wages, 2019
- Industrial Relations Code, 2020
- Code on Social Security, 2020
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- Constitution Day or Samvidhan Divas: observed to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949 → was observed as Law Day before 2015.
- Inner Line Permit (ILP): implemented under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873 → applicable to 4 States: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur → requires all non-residents, including Indian citizens from outside the State, to obtain an ILP before entering.
- Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SMFCL): India’s first maritime sector-specific Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
- Dark pattern: a user interface (UI) design that is deliberately created to mislead/manipulate users → obscures information, makes cancellation difficult, or uses confusing language to trick users into decisions favouring the business → example: making unintended purchases.
- Mekedatu multi-purpose project: a balancing reservoir cum drinking water Project proposed by Karnataka on Cauvery River near its confluence with the Arkavathi River → disputed between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
- Madvi Hidma: A Maoist commander, recently killed by Indian security forces in Papikonda National Park in Alluri Sitharama Raju district (Andhra Pradesh).
- India aims to eliminate Naxalism by March 2026. Some efforts against Naxalism are:
- Left Wing Extremism Division → by Home Ministry in 2006.
- CPI(Maoist) was banned in 2009 under the UAPA, 1967.
- Operation Black Forest / Operation Kagar: April – May 2025 → Border between Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
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