International Current Affairs MCQs

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Indonesia suspended import of Indian groundnuts from 3 September 2025 due to Aflatoxin concerns. Suspension threatens new crop arrivals in a month, with groundnut sown on 48 lakh hectares this kharif season. Gujarat expects record 66 lakh tonnes, but prices remain below Minimum Support Price (MSP). Indonesia is India’s top buyer, importing one-third of exports — 2.77 lakh tonnes worth $280 million in 2024–25. Aflatoxins are toxic compounds from fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, linked to liver cancer and health risks.

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The Taliban government recently rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to retake Bagram Air Base, four years after the U.S. withdrawal. Bagram Air Base is the largest airbase in Afghanistan, located north of Kabul. It holds a strategic position near Iran, Pakistan, China’s Xinjiang, and Central Asia. Originally built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it supported Soviet operations until the late 1980s. The United States later revamped it and used it as a hub for war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda since 2001. It served as the largest U.S. military installation in Afghanistan for air operations, intelligence, and logistics.

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India deepened engagement with Central American Integration System (SICA) countries at the India-SICA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New York. Key collaboration areas include trade, digital payments, agriculture, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and information technology (IT). Central American Integration System (SICA) is the institutional framework for regional integration in Central America. It was established in 1991 through the Tegucigalpa Protocol by amending the Charter of the Organization of Central American States (ODECA) of 1962.

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On October 8, 2025, Russia’s lower house of parliament approved withdrawing from the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) with the United States. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) is a pact between the United States and Russia signed in 2000. It came into force in 2011 to reduce weapons-grade plutonium from dismantled Cold War nuclear warheads. Both countries had large plutonium stockpiles that were expensive to store and posed a nuclear proliferation risk. The PMDA required each country to dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium. The plan involved converting it into Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel or using it in fast-neutron reactors for electricity.

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Fiji launched its first-ever National Child Safeguarding Policy in October 2025. The policy sets a national benchmark for child safety across all sectors. It ensures all child-related services are delivered safely, respectfully, and in a child-friendly manner. It introduces a mandatory Child Protection Code of Conduct for all institutions and organisations. It requires child-safe recruitment and vetting processes, including criminal background checks. It includes risk mitigation strategies tailored to protect children from harm. It strengthens child safety, accountability, and institutional responsibility in Fiji.

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Recently, India and Brazil agreed to significantly expand their existing trade agreement with the MERCOSUR bloc. MERCOSUR stands for the Southern Common Market (Spanish initials). It is a South American regional economic organization and the fourth largest integrated market after the European Union (EU), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). MERCOSUR was created in 1991 by signing the Treaty of Asunción. Its objective is the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people, becoming a customs union in January 1995.

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Uruguay has become the first country in Latin America to legalise euthanasia through the Dignified Death Bill. The law allows mentally sound adults with terminal, irreversible diseases to request assisted suicide from a healthcare professional. Uruguay, known for socially liberal laws like marijuana legalisation, same-sex marriage, and abortion, now adds euthanasia.

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India and the United Kingdom (UK) launched the Ramanujan Junior Researchers Programme to foster collaboration between young scientists. The programme was named after Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. It honors his 1913 collaboration with British mathematician G.H. Hardy. The programme is supported by India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and announced after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to India. Young Indian physicists and mathematicians can conduct joint research at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences (LIMS). LIMS, at the Royal Institution, London, is renowned for full-time theoretical research and associations with Nobel Prizes and major discoveries. The initiative emphasizes international scientific dialogue and exchange of talent between India and the UK

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East Timor (Timor Leste) was formally admitted to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on October 26, 2025, marking the bloc’s first expansion since the 1990s. The formal ceremony took place in Kuala Lumpur, with the East Timor flag added alongside 10 other member states. Timor Leste is an island country in the Eastern Lesser Sunda Islands at the southern end of the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia.

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The 20th East Asia Summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, where the Kuala Lumpur Declaration was adopted. The declaration reaffirmed the commitment to peace, stability, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. It called for strategic trust and responsible, transparent, and predictable behaviour among member nations. The declaration stressed strong partnerships in regional and international affairs. It also highlighted the importance of information exchange on regional development, security policies, disaster management, and regional architecture discussions. The move strengthens the East Asia Summit’s role as a key platform for regional stability and dialogue.