SNIPPETS: 20 NOVEMBER 2025

SOCIAL ISSUES

• The Union government launched new digital platforms to improve transparency and efficiency in India’s food security system. The AI-driven ASHA platform enables multilingual feedback from PDS beneficiaries and aims to cover 20 lakh citizens monthly by 2026. Additional platforms—Bhandaran 360, Smart EXIM Warehouse, and FCI’s Anna Darpan—modernise warehousing and logistics. The Centre also removed 2.25 crore ineligible ration beneficiaries to ensure free grains reach genuine households.

ENVIRONMENT

• A 2025 IUCN Congress report warns of a severe decline in India’s dugong populations due to fishing-net entanglement, pollution, toxic contamination and rapid seagrass loss. Survival is most uncertain in the Gulf of Kutch and declining in Palk Bay and the Andamans. Dugongs, key maintainers of seagrass ecosystems, face rising fisheries-related mortality. India has launched a Task Force, a National Dugong Recovery Programme, and created the Palk Bay Conservation Reserve to restore habitats and regulate coastal pressures.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

• India has signed its first structured one-year contract to import 2.2 MTPA of LPG from the US, diversifying away from heavy dependence on West Asian suppliers. Public sector refiners awarded contracts to major US and European companies to strengthen supply security and support LPG penetration in rural areas. The deal comes amid tariff-related trade tensions, declining Indian exports to the US, and ongoing negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement, while enhancing India–US energy cooperation.
• India has withdrawn from the Ayni airbase in Tajikistan, its only full-fledged overseas military base, marking a strategic shift in Central Asia. Built and renovated by India since 2002 at a cost of $80 million, Ayni gave India proximity to Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor—bordering PoK and China’s Xinjiang—and leverage in a region influenced by Russia and China. India’s withdrawal in 2022 followed Tajik reluctance to renew the lease, reportedly under Russian and Chinese pressure. The move reduces India’s Central Asian footprint, though new projects like Agaléga in Mauritius expand its Indian Ocean presence.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bhutan to mark the 70th birthday of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the architect of modern Bhutan. The visit strengthens India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and reaffirms deep strategic ties. India-Bhutan relations—rooted in the 1949 Treaty and modernised in 2007—emphasise equal partnership, security cooperation, and hydropower development. King Wangchuck’s legacy includes transitioning Bhutan to democracy, economic reforms, and strong bilateral engagement. Modi inaugurated the 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu-II project and advanced cultural and energy cooperation.