18 November 2025

• India's district courts carry 4.69 crore pending cases with only 21 judges per million people against the Law Commission's recommended 50.
• India's LNG import deal with US suppliers covers 2.2 million tonnes per annum from 2026, reducing dependence on West Asian sources.
• Two Rudra Brigades are positioned on India's northern borders, marking a shift from Cold Start to Cold Strike doctrine.
• The National Gopal Ratna Awards 2025 were announced, recognising the best dairy farmers working with indigenous cattle breeds.
• India will host the Global Big Cats Summit in New Delhi in 2026 under the International Big Cat Alliance framework.

GS area: GS-2 (judiciary, governance, constitutional institutions)

India's district court system is overwhelmed. The gap between sanctioned judge strength and actual working strength compounds a case pendency crisis that has been building for decades.

• Pending cases: 4.69 crore cases pending in district and subordinate courts. Total pendency across all tiers of the judiciary is approximately 69 crore cases.
• Judge strength: 21,122 judges are currently working against a sanctioned strength of 25,843. The vacancy is approximately 18%.
• Judges per million: India has 21 judges per million population. The 120th Report of the Law Commission of India (1987) recommended a ratio of 50 judges per million.
• Average dispute duration: civil disputes take 5 to 10 years on average. Land and property cases average 20 to 30 years.
• Adjournment rate: 42% of criminal trials face adjournments at any given hearing, according to available court data.
• Fast Track Courts: a dedicated Fast Track Court system handled 3.34 lakh cases. These courts target heinous crimes and cases involving women, children, and senior citizens.
• Systemic cause: vacancies persist because the collegium system, state government involvement in appointments, and infrastructure deficits all contribute to delays in filling posts.

Revises topic: Indian judiciary, judicial reforms, access to justice.

GS area: GS-2 (international relations, South-South cooperation)

India-Africa trade crossed the $100 billion mark in 2024-25, though China's trade with Africa is nearly three times that figure.

• Trade figure: India-Africa bilateral trade exceeded $100 billion in 2024-25.
• India's rank: third-largest trading partner of the African continent. China ($280 billion) and the United States rank ahead.
• FDI: Indian cumulative FDI in Africa stands at approximately $75 billion.
• Lines of Credit: India has extended $10 billion in Lines of Credit supporting 189 development projects across 42 African countries.
• DFTP Scheme: India's Duty-Free Tariff Preference Scheme grants 98.2% tariff-free access to exports from 38 African Least Developed Countries.
• Capacity building: over 40,000 Africans have been trained under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
• Education: IIT Madras opened a campus in Zanzibar in 2023, India's first overseas IIT campus.
• Diplomatic gap: no India-Africa Forum Summit has been held since 2015. The first summit was in 2008, the second in 2011, and the third in 2015. The gap is a persistent criticism of India's Africa engagement.

Revises topic: India's foreign policy, Africa engagement, ITEC programme.

GS area: GS-3 (animal diseases, biosecurity, agriculture)

African Swine Fever emerged in Assam, prompting a ban on inter-district movement of live pigs.

• Disease type: highly contagious viral hemorrhagic fever of pigs. It is caused by African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), a large DNA virus.
• Mortality rate: 90 to 100% in infected pigs. There is no effective treatment.
• Transmission: the primary biological vector is soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. Direct pig-to-pig contact and contaminated pork products also spread the disease.
• Human risk: African Swine Fever does not infect humans and poses no food safety risk.
• India's first outbreak: detected in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in 2020. The 2025 outbreak in Assam is a recurrence in the same zone.
• Control measures in place: inter-district live pig movement ban in Assam. The only available interventions are strict biosecurity, mass culling of infected herds, and movement restrictions. No vaccine is available.
• Economic impact: India's pig population is concentrated in northeastern states. Mass culling causes severe livelihood losses for communities where pigs are a primary protein and income source.

Revises topic: Animal diseases in India, biosecurity policy, northeastern agriculture.

GS area: GS-3 (defence, military doctrine, India-China relations)

The Rudra Brigade is India's integrated all-arms formation combining multiple combat arms into a single unified command, positioned on northern borders.

• Composition: combines infantry, mechanised forces, armour, artillery, air defence, and drone units under a single brigade commander. This integration is the defining feature.
• Deployment: two Rudra Brigades are positioned on India's northern borders (the Line of Actual Control with China).
• Doctrinal shift: the Rudra Brigade represents a move from the "Cold Start" doctrine (rapid conventional response against Pakistan) toward a "Cold Strike" capability oriented toward high-altitude warfare against a peer adversary.
• Operational validation: tested during Exercise Trishul, a tri-service exercise that evaluated joint land, air, and logistics coordination.
• Drone integration: the inclusion of drone units within the brigade reflects lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, where drone-coordinated combined arms operations have been decisive.

Revises topic: Indian Army modernisation, India-China border, military doctrine.

GS area: GS-3 (energy security, India-US relations, petroleum sector)

India signed its first structured long-term LPG sourcing agreement with US suppliers, covering 2.2 million tonnes per annum from 2026.

• Volume: 2.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for the year 2026. This represents approximately 10% of India's annual LPG import requirement.
• US suppliers: Chevron, Phillips 66, and TotalEnergies (which has significant US LPG assets).
• Pricing benchmark: contracts are priced against the Mont Belvieu index. Mont Belvieu, Texas, is the primary US LPG pricing hub.
• Indian buyers: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
• India's LPG import dependency: India imports approximately 60% of its LPG requirement. Domestic production covers the remaining 40%.
• Traditional supply geography: approximately 90% of India's LPG imports historically come from West Asian countries, particularly Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
• Demand driver: the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana connected over 10 crore below-poverty-line households to LPG, making India one of the world's fastest-growing LPG markets. Diversifying supply sources reduces geopolitical price risk.

Revises topic: India's energy security, LPG policy, Ujjwala Yojana.

GS area: GS-3 (animal husbandry, government schemes, dairying)

The National Gopal Ratna Awards are announced annually on National Milk Day, 26 November.

• Award creation year: 2021.
• Parent scheme: Rashtriya Gokul Mission, launched in December 2014. The mission focuses on conservation and development of indigenous bovine breeds.
• Nodal ministry: Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
• Categories:
  • Best Dairy Farmer: farmers rearing indigenous cattle or buffalo breeds.
  • Best Artificial Insemination Technician: recognises frontline workers who maintain genetic quality of indigenous herds.
  • Best Dairy Cooperative, Farmer Producer Organisation, or Multi-Purpose Cooperative: for institutional dairy excellence.
• Prize amounts: Rs 5 lakh for first place, Rs 3 lakh for second, Rs 2 lakh for third in each category.
• Announcement date: winners are announced to coincide with National Milk Day on 26 November. The date marks the birth anniversary of Verghese Kurien, architect of Operation Flood.

Revises topic: Animal husbandry schemes, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, dairy sector.

GS area: GS-3 (environment, biodiversity, conservation)

India will host the Global Big Cats Summit in New Delhi in 2026 under the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) framework.

• IBCA establishment: formally established on 9 April 2023 by India, with headquarters in India.
• Alliance membership: 95 countries plus institutional partners.
• Seven big cats: Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, and Puma. These are the species the IBCA focuses on for conservation.
• India's big cat relevance: India hosts tigers (Project Tiger since 1973), Asiatic lions (Gir, Gujarat), leopards, snow leopards (Himalayan ranges), and reintroduced cheetahs (Kuno National Park since 2022).
• Summit purpose: coordinate international funding, anti-poaching enforcement, and habitat protection across the seven species' range states.
• Why India hosts: India has the largest wild tiger population in the world and operates the longest-running big cat conservation programme globally.

Revises topic: Wildlife conservation, Project Tiger, international environmental organisations.

GS area: GS-2 (defence cooperation, India-UK relations)

Exercise Ajeya Warrior 2025 is the India-UK bilateral counter-terrorism exercise, held in Rajasthan in November 2025.

• Nature: bilateral counter-terrorism and urban warfare exercise conducted under UN mandate for humanitarian operations.
• Location: Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan. One of India's largest combined-arms training areas.
• Troop numbers: 240 personnel participate, with the Indian contingent drawn from the Sikh Regiment.
• Frequency: biennial exercise, held once every two years.
• UK side: British Army contingent from a designated infantry regiment.
• Focus areas: counter-improvised explosive device drills, urban close-quarters combat, casualty evacuation, and interoperability in multinational UN-style operations.
• Distinction from Garuda: Garuda is the India-France air exercise also ongoing in November 2025. Ajeya Warrior is the India-UK land exercise. Both happened simultaneously, reflecting the breadth of India's multilateral defence engagement.

Revises topic: India's bilateral defence exercises, India-UK relations.

• National Milk Day falls on 26 November each year, marking the birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien. India is the world's largest milk producer.
• Mont Belvieu index is the US benchmark for LPG pricing, equivalent to how Brent crude prices international oil contracts.
• Rashtriya Gokul Mission operates through Gokul Grams (integrated bovine development centres) and the National Bovine Genomic Centre for Indigenous Breeds.
• IBCA headquarters is in India, making India the institutional anchor for global big cat conservation diplomacy.
• Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan are also used for India-US Exercise Yudh Abhyas and several other bilateral exercises, making them India's primary combined-arms training hub.
• African Swine Fever was first reported globally in Europe in 1921 and has caused massive pig population losses in China (which lost over 40% of its pig herd in the 2018-2019 outbreak).