Current Affairs & Recent Developments — 2025-2026

Why This Chapter Matters

International organisations and Indian defence together form a heavyweight section in SSC CGL, usually worth three to five marks, and these questions are among the most predictable in the entire paper because headquarters, founding years, and organisational structures rarely change. Exam-setters return to the same core facts year after year: where the UN is headquartered, how many permanent Security Council members exist, what DRDO stands for, which missile belongs to which family. Get this chapter solid and you convert guaranteed questions into guaranteed marks.

The single biggest trap in this chapter is mixing up the alphabet soup of organisations, especially ones with similar-sounding names or overlapping membership: SAARC versus ASEAN versus BRICS versus G20, or the IMF versus the World Bank, which many students treat as interchangeable despite doing fundamentally different jobs. A second common error is confusing the branches of India's armed forces with paramilitary or police forces, and mixing up which defence organisation (DRDO versus ISRO versus ordnance factories) builds which system. Keep the purpose of each organisation and force firmly separate as you read, because that is exactly where the exam tries to trip you.

1. The United Nations

The United Nations (UN) was established on October 24, 1945, after the failure of its predecessor, the League of Nations, to prevent the Second World War. Its headquarters sits in New York City, USA, on land donated by John D. Rockefeller Jr. The UN Charter was signed in San Francisco earlier that year, but the organisation formally came into existence once enough member states had ratified it, which is why October 24 is celebrated globally as United Nations Day.

The UN has six principal organs. The General Assembly is the main deliberative body where every member state gets one vote, currently numbering 193 member states. The Security Council holds primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and has 15 members: five permanent members (the USA, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom, often remembered as the P5) who each hold veto power, plus ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.

Exam trap: Students frequently misremember the Security Council's total size. It has 15 seats, not 10 or 20, and only the P5 hold veto power; the ten rotating members do not.

Other UN organs include the Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General (currently António Guterres of Portugal, who took office in 2017); the International Court of Justice (ICJ), headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, which settles legal disputes between states; the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); and the Trusteeship Council, now largely inactive since all UN trust territories have achieved self-governance.

Memory hook: Think of the UN as a school with six departments: the General Assembly is the full student body, the Security Council is the disciplinary committee with five permanent senior prefects holding a veto, the Secretariat is the administrative office, the ICJ is the school's court for settling disputes, ECOSOC handles welfare, and the Trusteeship Council is a department that has quietly closed since its work is done.

Key UN Agencies

Several specialised UN agencies are frequently tested individually because they have distinct headquarters and mandates:

• World Health Organization (WHO) — headquarters Geneva, Switzerland, founded 1948, deals with global public health.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — headquarters Paris, France, founded 1945, known for World Heritage Site designations.
• United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) — headquarters New York, USA, founded 1946, focuses on child welfare.
• International Labour Organization (ILO) — headquarters Geneva, Switzerland, founded 1919 (predates the UN itself, inherited from the League of Nations era), focuses on labour standards.
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) — headquarters Rome, Italy, founded 1945, works on food security and agriculture.
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — headquarters Geneva, Switzerland, handles refugee protection.

Exam trap: Geneva hosts multiple major UN agencies (WHO, ILO, UNHCR), which leads students to wrongly assume Geneva is the UN's main headquarters. The UN's actual headquarters is New York; Geneva is simply the UN's largest agency hub in Europe.

2. World Bank, IMF, and WTO

These three institutions get grouped together constantly in exam questions, and distinguishing their core purpose is the fastest way to avoid losing marks.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), headquartered in Washington D.C., USA, was established in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, alongside the World Bank. Its primary role is maintaining international monetary cooperation and financial stability, essentially acting as a lender of last resort for countries facing balance-of-payments crises. It also monitors global economic trends and offers policy advice.

The World Bank, also headquartered in Washington D.C., USA, and also born from the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, focuses on long-term development financing, funding infrastructure, education, and poverty-reduction projects in developing countries. Its full structure includes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), among other arms.

Memory hook: Think of the IMF as the emergency room doctor (stepping in during acute financial crises with short-term fixes) and the World Bank as the family physician managing long-term health (funding sustained development over years and decades). Both work out of the same city, Washington D.C., much like two clinics on the same street with different specialities.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, was established in 1995, replacing the earlier General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which had operated since 1947. The WTO's job is regulating international trade rules between nations, settling trade disputes, and negotiating trade agreements. Unlike the IMF and World Bank, which deal with money and financing, the WTO deals with the rules of trade itself, tariffs, quotas, and disputes between member countries over trading practices.

Exam trap: The WTO is often confused with the World Bank simply because both names start with "World." Remember: WTO governs trade rules; World Bank funds development projects. Different job entirely.

3. Regional and Multilateral Organisations

SAARC

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985, with its secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal. Its eight members are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Afghanistan. SAARC aims to promote economic and regional cooperation among South Asian nations, though political tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, have limited its effectiveness in recent years, and SAARC summits have frequently been delayed or cancelled as a result.

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established in 1967 through the Bangkok Declaration, with its secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Its founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand; the group has since expanded to ten members, adding Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. India maintains a dedicated "Act East Policy" that prioritises deeper engagement with ASEAN nations.

BRICS

BRICS originally stood for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, an acronym first coined by economist Jim O'Neill in 2001 (initially as "BRIC," before South Africa joined in 2010). BRICS represents a grouping of major emerging economies, and it established the New Development Bank (NDB), headquartered in Shanghai, China, in 2015, as an alternative to the World Bank and IMF for financing infrastructure and development projects in member and partner countries. BRICS has expanded further in recent years, admitting new members and partner countries from the Middle East and elsewhere, reflecting its growing ambition as a voice for the "Global South."

G20

The Group of Twenty (G20) brings together 19 individual countries plus the European Union (with the African Union also admitted as a member in 2023), representing the world's major economies. It was originally formed in 1999 as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors, and elevated to a leaders' summit level after the 2008 global financial crisis. India hosted the G20 Summit in 2023 in New Delhi, under the theme "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" ("One Earth, One Family, One Future"), a landmark moment for India's global diplomatic profile.

Memory hook: Keep the regional groupings straight with their geography: SAARC is South Asia's own family gathering, ASEAN is Southeast Asia's, BRICS is a cross-continental emerging-economy club, and G20 is the whole world's biggest economies at one table.

4. India's Armed Forces

India's armed forces consist of three professional branches, each under its own chief, with the President of India serving as the ceremonial Supreme Commander of all three.

The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest of the three services by personnel, headed by the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS). Its structure is organised into commands spread across the country, each responsible for a geographic zone, and it is primarily responsible for land warfare, border security in conjunction with paramilitary forces, and internal security support during emergencies.

The Indian Navy is the maritime branch, headed by the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), responsible for protecting India's coastline and maritime interests across the Indian Ocean region. India operates aircraft carriers, including the indigenously built INS Vikrant, commissioned in 2022, which made India one of a small handful of nations capable of designing and building its own aircraft carrier.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the aerial branch, headed by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), responsible for aerial warfare and air defence of Indian territory. The IAF also plays a major role in disaster relief operations, given its transport and rescue capabilities.

Since 2019, India has also had a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a four-star post created to provide single-point military advice to the government and improve coordination (jointness) between the three services. General Bipin Rawat was India's first CDS, appointed in December 2019; following his death in a helicopter crash in 2021, subsequent officers have held the post.

Exam trap: The Chief of Defence Staff is not the same as the Chief of the Army Staff. The CDS is a coordinating role across all three services and also heads the Department of Military Affairs; the COAS, CNS, and CAS remain separate service chiefs reporting through the CDS on tri-service matters while retaining command of their individual services.

Paramilitary and central armed police forces, such as the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Assam Rifles, are distinct from the three armed forces. They function under the Ministry of Home Affairs rather than the Ministry of Defence (Assam Rifles being a partial exception, administratively under Home Affairs but operationally sometimes under the Army), and their mandate leans towards border guarding and internal security rather than conventional warfare.

Memory hook: Picture India's defence structure as a household: the President is the head of the family in a ceremonial sense, the CDS is the eldest sibling coordinating everyone, and the Army, Navy, and Air Force are three siblings each running their own room (land, sea, air) but reporting to the same household.

5. DRDO and Indigenous Defence Systems

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), established in 1958, is India's premier agency for military research and development, headquartered in New Delhi, operating under the Ministry of Defence. DRDO develops everything from missiles to radar systems to combat vehicles, working alongside public sector defence undertakings and private industry to reduce India's dependence on imported weapons systems.

Among DRDO's flagship achievements is the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), launched in the 1980s under the leadership of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, which produced India's core missile families:

• Prithvi — short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile
• Agni — a family of medium to intercontinental-range ballistic missiles, with Agni-V capable of intercontinental range, putting most of Asia and parts of Europe within reach
• Akash — surface-to-air missile system for air defence
• Trishul — short-range surface-to-air missile
• Nag — anti-tank guided missile

BrahMos, a supersonic cruise missile, was developed jointly by DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, named by combining the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, and it is among the fastest cruise missiles operational in the world today. India has also test-fired hypersonic technology demonstrators as part of longer-term efforts to build hypersonic-capable systems.

Exam trap: Do not confuse the Agni missile series (ballistic missiles, developed indigenously under DRDO) with BrahMos (a cruise missile, developed jointly with Russia). Ballistic missiles follow a parabolic trajectory and re-enter the atmosphere at high speed; cruise missiles fly within the atmosphere for most of their journey and can manoeuvre continuously, a key technical distinction that sometimes appears as a direct question.

Memory hook: Remember the missile family names with a short chant: "Prithvi walks the ground, Agni reaches far and high, Akash and Trishul guard the sky, Nag bites the tank that's nearby."

DRDO has also developed Tejas, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), built with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and Arjun, India's indigenous main battle tank. India's nuclear submarine programme produced the INS Arihant, the first indigenously built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, commissioned in 2016, giving India a sea-based leg of its nuclear deterrent.

6. India's Nuclear Policy

India first tested a nuclear device in 1974, codenamed Smiling Buddha, described at the time as a "peaceful nuclear explosion." India conducted a further series of tests in May 1998, codenamed Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II), after which India formally declared itself a nuclear weapons state.

India's declared nuclear doctrine rests on a policy of No First Use (NFU), meaning India commits to using nuclear weapons only in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or Indian forces, not as a first-strike option. The doctrine also commits to credible minimum deterrence, meaning India aims to maintain just enough nuclear capability to deter an adversary, rather than pursuing an unlimited arms race, and it extends assurances of non-use against non-nuclear weapon states.

India has developed a nuclear triad, the capability to deliver nuclear weapons from land (via missiles like Agni), air (via aircraft), and sea (via submarines like INS Arihant), which strengthens deterrence by ensuring a retaliatory strike capability survives even if one leg of the triad is compromised. India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), arguing the treaty is discriminatory since it permanently divides the world into nuclear "haves" and "have-nots," but India has separately signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with several countries, most notably the landmark India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement of 2008.

Exam trap: No First Use does not mean India will never use nuclear weapons; it means India will not strike first with them. Questions sometimes phrase this loosely, so read carefully whether the option describes "no first use" correctly or twists it into "no use at all."

India's nuclear establishment operates through the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA), which has two components: a Political Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, which is the sole body authorised to order a nuclear strike, and an Executive Council, chaired by the National Security Advisor, which provides operational advice and executes the Political Council's directions. This structure keeps the actual launch decision under firm civilian political control rather than military discretion alone, a design choice that distinguishes India's command structure from some other nuclear states.

Memory hook: Picture the NCA as a two-key locker system, much like a bank safety deposit box that needs two separate keys to open. The Political Council holds the decision key, the Executive Council holds the execution key, and neither can act alone. This two-tier structure is a favourite theme for exam-setters wanting to test whether students understand that India's nuclear button is not solely a military matter.

Alongside its weapons programme, India separately runs a large civilian nuclear power sector under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), operating plants such as Kudankulam and Tarapur to generate electricity, a programme kept administratively and legally distinct from the strategic weapons programme even though both trace back to the same early scientific institutions built under Dr. Homi Bhabha in the 1950s.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• UN established October 24, 1945; headquarters in New York.
• UN Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent (P5, with veto) and 10 non-permanent.
• P5 nations: USA, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom.
• ICJ (International Court of Justice) is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.
• WHO headquarters: Geneva; UNESCO headquarters: Paris; FAO headquarters: Rome.
• IMF and World Bank both established 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference; both headquartered in Washington D.C.
• IMF focuses on monetary stability and short-term crisis lending; World Bank funds long-term development.
• WTO established 1995, headquartered in Geneva, replaced GATT (1947).
• SAARC established 1985, secretariat in Kathmandu, has 8 members.
• ASEAN established 1967, secretariat in Jakarta, now has 10 members.
• BRICS acronym coined by Jim O'Neill in 2001; New Development Bank headquartered in Shanghai.
• G20 elevated to leaders' level after the 2008 financial crisis; India hosted the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi.
• President of India is the ceremonial Supreme Commander of the armed forces.
• Three armed forces: Army (COAS), Navy (CNS), Air Force (CAS).
• General Bipin Rawat was India's first Chief of Defence Staff, appointed December 2019.
• INS Vikrant, commissioned 2022, is India's indigenously built aircraft carrier.
• DRDO established 1958, headquartered in New Delhi.
• IGMDP launched in the 1980s under Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam produced Prithvi, Agni, Akash, Trishul, and Nag missiles.
• BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile jointly developed with Russia, named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
• Tejas is India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, developed with HAL.
• INS Arihant, commissioned 2016, is India's first indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
• India's first nuclear test: 1974, codenamed Smiling Buddha.
• India's second round of nuclear tests: 1998, codenamed Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II).
• India's nuclear doctrine is based on No First Use and credible minimum deterrence.
• India has a nuclear triad: delivery capability from land, air, and sea.
• India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• India signed a landmark Civil Nuclear Agreement with the USA in 2008.

Memory Tables

Table 1: Key International Organisations at a Glance

Organisation	Established	Headquarters	Core Function
United Nations	1945	New York, USA	Global peace and security cooperation
IMF	1944	Washington D.C., USA	Monetary stability, crisis lending
World Bank	1944	Washington D.C., USA	Long-term development financing
WTO	1995	Geneva, Switzerland	Regulates international trade rules
WHO	1948	Geneva, Switzerland	Global public health
SAARC	1985	Kathmandu, Nepal	South Asian regional cooperation
ASEAN	1967	Jakarta, Indonesia	Southeast Asian regional cooperation
G20	1999	No fixed HQ (rotating presidency)	Forum of major world economies

Table 2: India's Three Armed Forces and Leadership

Force	Head	Primary Domain	Notable Indigenous Asset
Indian Army	Chief of the Army Staff (COAS)	Land warfare, border security	Arjun main battle tank
Indian Navy	Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS)	Maritime security	INS Vikrant, INS Arihant
Indian Air Force	Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)	Air warfare, air defence	Tejas Light Combat Aircraft
Tri-service coordination	Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)	Jointness across all three	Department of Military Affairs

Table 3: DRDO Missile Families

Missile	Type	Range Category
Prithvi	Surface-to-surface ballistic	Short range
Agni (series, up to Agni-V)	Surface-to-surface ballistic	Medium to intercontinental range
Akash	Surface-to-air	Air defence
Trishul	Surface-to-air	Short range
Nag	Anti-tank guided missile	Short range
BrahMos	Cruise missile (India-Russia joint)	Supersonic, medium range

Practice MCQs

Q1. The United Nations was formally established on which date? (a) October 24, 1945 (b) January 1, 1946 (c) June 26, 1945 (d) September 1, 1939

Q2. How many permanent members does the UN Security Council have, and do they hold veto power? (a) 10 members, no veto (b) 5 members, with veto power (c) 15 members, all with veto (d) 5 members, no veto

Q3. Which international organisation is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands? (a) WTO (b) International Court of Justice (c) WHO (d) UNESCO

Q4. The IMF and the World Bank were both established at which conference? (a) Yalta Conference (b) San Francisco Conference (c) Bretton Woods Conference (d) Paris Peace Conference

Q5. What is the primary functional difference between the IMF and the World Bank? (a) There is no difference, they do identical work (b) IMF focuses on short-term monetary stability; World Bank funds long-term development (c) IMF funds infrastructure; World Bank handles currency exchange (d) IMF is a UN agency; World Bank is not

Q6. The World Trade Organization, established in 1995, replaced which earlier agreement? (a) Bretton Woods Agreement (b) GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) (c) Marshall Plan (d) Kyoto Protocol

Q7. Where is the SAARC secretariat located? (a) New Delhi (b) Dhaka (c) Kathmandu (d) Colombo

Q8. Who coined the term "BRIC" (later BRICS) in 2001? (a) Jim O'Neill (b) Milton Friedman (c) Amartya Sen (d) Joseph Stiglitz

Q9. India hosted the G20 Summit in 2023 in which city, under what theme? (a) Mumbai, "Digital India" (b) New Delhi, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (c) Bengaluru, "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (d) Chennai, "One World"

Q10. Who serves as the ceremonial Supreme Commander of India's armed forces? (a) The Prime Minister (b) The Defence Minister (c) The President (d) The Chief of Defence Staff

Q11. Who was India's first Chief of Defence Staff, appointed in December 2019? (a) General Manoj Pande (b) General Bipin Rawat (c) Admiral Karambir Singh (d) Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria

Q12. The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) was launched under whose leadership? (a) Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (b) Dr. Homi Bhabha (c) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (d) Dr. Raja Ramanna

Q13. BrahMos, India's supersonic cruise missile, was developed jointly with which country, and is named after which two rivers? (a) USA; Ganga and Yamuna (b) Russia; Brahmaputra and Moskva (c) France; Narmada and Seine (d) Israel; Godavari and Jordan

Q14. India's nuclear doctrine of "No First Use" means what, precisely? (a) India will never use nuclear weapons under any circumstances (b) India will use nuclear weapons only in retaliation, not as a first strike (c) India will use nuclear weapons only against non-nuclear states (d) India will use nuclear weapons only in a defensive alliance context

Q15. India's 1998 nuclear tests were codenamed which operation? (a) Smiling Buddha (b) Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) (c) Operation Vijay (d) Operation Trident

Answer Key

Q	Answer	Reason
1	(a)	The UN was formally established on October 24, 1945, once enough states ratified the Charter, and this date is marked as UN Day.
2	(b)	The Security Council has 5 permanent members (P5) holding veto power, plus 10 non-permanent members without veto.
3	(b)	The International Court of Justice sits in The Hague, Netherlands, distinct from Geneva-based agencies like WHO.
4	(c)	Both the IMF and World Bank trace their origin to the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference.
5	(b)	The IMF acts as a short-term financial stabiliser; the World Bank funds long-term development projects.
6	(b)	The WTO, formed in 1995, took over from GATT, which had governed trade rules since 1947.
7	(c)	SAARC's secretariat is located in Kathmandu, Nepal.
8	(a)	Economist Jim O'Neill coined "BRIC" in 2001, before South Africa joined to make it BRICS in 2010.
9	(b)	India hosted the G20 Summit in New Delhi in 2023 under the theme "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam."
10	(c)	The President of India holds the ceremonial position of Supreme Commander of the armed forces.
11	(b)	General Bipin Rawat became India's first Chief of Defence Staff in December 2019.
12	(c)	Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam led the IGMDP in the 1980s, producing the Prithvi, Agni, Akash, Trishul, and Nag missile families.
13	(b)	BrahMos was developed with Russia and named by combining the Brahmaputra and Moskva river names.
14	(b)	No First Use commits India to retaliatory use only, not a complete refusal to ever use nuclear weapons.
15	(b)	The 1998 tests were codenamed Operation Shakti, also referred to as Pokhran-II, after which India declared itself a nuclear weapons state.