Five countries elected to the UN Security Council for 2027-28
3 June 2026
On 3 June 2026 the UN General Assembly elected Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe as non-permanent members of the Security Council for 2027 and 2028. It will be Kyrgyzstan's first term. They replace Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia, whose terms end on 31 December 2026.
Background. The Security Council has 15 members: five permanent with a veto (the US, UK, France, Russia and China) and ten elected for two years, five each year, by two-thirds of the General Assembly. India has served eight terms, most recently 2021-22, and is a candidate for 2028-29.
Why CLAT asks: Council composition and India's terms are perennial questions.
Sources: All India Radio News: Five countries elected non-permanent members of UN Security Council (4 June 2026); Security Council Report: Security Council Elections 2026
The race for the next UN Secretary-General
21 August 2026
António Guterres's second term ends on 31 December 2026. The Security Council held its first secret straw poll on the candidates on 30 July 2026 and a second on 21 August, with eight candidates by then, including Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan, reported as an early front-runner, and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi of Argentina. Members mark each candidate 'encourage', 'discourage' or 'no opinion'; results are not published.
Background. Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the General Assembly appoints the Secretary-General on the Security Council's recommendation; in practice the candidate needs at least nine votes and no veto from a permanent member. No woman has yet held the post, and regional rotation points towards Latin America this time.
Why CLAT asks: Article 97 and the veto's role in choosing the Secretary-General are likely questions.
Sources: CTV News (AP): Selection process for next UN chief under way (30 July 2026); Citizen Digital: UN holds second informal poll of secretary-general candidates
FATF plenary: India's Vivek Aggarwal named Vice-President
19 June 2026
The Financial Action Task Force's plenary in Paris on 17 to 19 June 2026 appointed India's Vivek Aggarwal as its Vice-President for July 2026 to June 2027, as the presidency passed from Mexico's Elisa de Anda Madrazo to the United Kingdom. It updated Recommendation 6 so that terrorist-financing sanctions do not block humanitarian aid. Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina were added to the 'grey list' of jurisdictions under increased monitoring and Algeria and Namibia removed; the black list of Iran, North Korea and Myanmar was unchanged.
Background. The FATF was set up by the G7 in 1989 and sets global standards against money laundering and terrorist financing. India became a member in 2010. Pakistan was removed from the grey list in 2022.
Why CLAT asks: Grey list versus black list, and who is on the black list, are standard questions.
Source: FATF: Outcomes FATF Plenary, 17-19 June 2026
ILO adopts its first convention on platform (gig) work
12 June 2026
The 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva adopted the Decent Work in the Platform Economy Convention, 2026 (No. 193) on 12 June 2026, the first international labour standard for platform workers. It applies to all platform workers, online or location-based, whatever their employment status, and covers pay, safety, social protection, data privacy and algorithmic management, including transparency and the right to have automated decisions reviewed. It binds only the countries that ratify it.
Background. The ILO, founded in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles and based in Geneva, is the only tripartite UN agency (governments, employers and workers) and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. India's Code on Social Security, 2020 was the first Indian law to define 'gig' and 'platform' workers.
Why CLAT asks: Gig workers' rights and algorithmic management make a contemporary legal-reasoning passage.
Sources: Ius Laboris: ILO adopts global standard on platform work; eTrade for all: International Labour Conference ends with adoption of first convention on decent work in the platform economy
India's bid for full membership of the International Energy Agency
February 2026
At its ministerial meeting in Paris in February 2026, the International Energy Agency welcomed progress on India's request for full membership. India has been an associate member since 2017 and applied for full membership in October 2023; talks began in 2024. The obstacle is that the IEA's founding treaty limits full membership to OECD members, and India is not one.
Background. The IEA was set up in 1974 in response to the 1973 oil crisis and is based in Paris. Its members must hold oil stocks equal to 90 days of net imports.
Why CLAT asks: Associate versus full membership, and why the OECD link matters, make a tidy question.
Source: Outlook Business: India begins talks with IEA for full membership
First summit of the International Big Cat Alliance postponed
21 May 2026
The first summit of the International Big Cat Alliance, set for 1 and 2 June 2026 in New Delhi, was postponed. The government said it was tied to the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit, which was being rescheduled after consultation with the African Union, and that it would be held later so that range countries, including African ones, could take part fully. Reports linked the delay to an Ebola outbreak in Africa.
Background. The IBCA was launched by Prime Minister Modi in April 2023 at Mysuru, marking 50 years of Project Tiger, to conserve seven big cats: tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar and puma. It is headquartered in India and became a treaty-based body in January 2025.
Why CLAT asks: The seven big cats, and which of them live in India, are favourite questions.
Sources: High Commission of India, Lilongwe: Press release on the postponement of the IBCA Summit (21 May 2026); ETV Bharat: No decision yet on revised schedule of IBCA Summit
