Legal Current Affairs for 22 November 2025

A 5-Judge bench of the Supreme Court in the 16th Presidential Reference (under Article 143) held that Court cannot impose any timelines for decisions of the President and the Governor on granting assent to Bills under Articles 200/201 of the Constitution.
Previously, in April 2025, the Supreme Court prescribed specific time-limits for the Governor and President to act on Bills under Article 200 and 201.
Article 143 allows the President to seek the opinion of the Supreme Court on significant legal or factual questions.

Geography: World’s oldest fold mountains (Pre-Cambrian), spanning across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana.
The highest peak is Guru Shikhar on Mount Abu.
Significance: Acts as a “Green Barrier” checking the eastward spread of the Thar Desert towards the Indo-Gangetic plains and serves as a critical aquifer recharge zone.
Acts as watershed between the Ganga and Indus Basin and is a catchment area for rivers like Banas, Luni, and Sahibi.
Great Green Wall of Aravalli, a significant ecological corridor, serves as a vital refuge for Indian leopards and jackals within the region.
MoEF&CC launched Aravalli Green Wall Project aimed at restoring degraded land, preventing desertification, enhancing green cover and improving ecological health of the Aravali landscape.

It consolidates and amends the law relating to CCL and Child in need of Care and Protection (CCP).
CCL means a child below 18 years of age who is alleged/ found to have committed an offense.
Board: It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in every district to deal with cases of CCL.
Implementation monitoring: By National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (national level) and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (State level).
Preliminary Assessment: In case of heinous offences alleged to have been committed by a child above 16 years of age, JJB shall conduct a preliminary assessment to assess capacity of the child.
After preliminary assessment, the Children’s Court may decide whether the child can be tried as an adult.

Seychelles becomes the 6th member of the Colombo Security Conclave.
It is an archipelago consisting of 155 islands in the western Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar.
It is the smallest African country in terms of both area and population.
Islands sit atop the submarine Mascarene Plateau.
Terrain: Mahe Group is volcanic with narrow coasts and hilly interior; others are relatively flat coral atolls, or elevated reefs.
Island Groups: It consist of two main Island groups Mahe groups (mountainous islands) and Outer Island (flat coralline islands).
Climate: Tropical Oceanic.

COP is the supreme decision-making body of UNFCCC.
COPs are annual conferences where UNFCCC member countries assess progress, negotiate agreements, and refine commitments to address climate change.
A key task for the COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories (e.g., Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)) submitted by Parties.
COP 1 : Held in Berlin, Germany (1995).

It merges pharmacology and genomics to study how genes influence a person’s response to drugs.
Purpose: Helps predict which medications will be effective, which may not work, and which could cause adverse reactions.
Promise: It supports precision medicine by guiding the “right drug, right dose, right patient” approach.
Safety: Significantly reduces adverse drug reactions by identifying patients predisposed to toxicity or poor efficacy.
Challenges: Access, diverse population data, and integration into clinical practice still limit wider adoption.

About: EC is a mandatory approval process for certain development and industrial projects in India to ensure that they do not harm the environment or local communities.
It is a legal requirement under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and is governed primarily by the EIA Notifications of 1994 and 2006.
Projects That Need EC: Any project located in ecologically sensitive areas (e.g., national parks, biosphere reserves, mangroves, tribal areas, coastal zones) requires EC regardless of category.
EIA 2006 mandates prior EC for over 39 types of activities and classifies projects into Category A (cleared by MoEFCC at the Central level) and Category B (cleared by State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) at State level).

Seagrass is an underwater flowering plant, distinct from seaweed, and is considered a wetland ecosystem.
Seagrass meadows help stabilize the seafloor, support fish populations, capture carbon, and provide shelter for marine life.
India’s most extensive seagrass meadows occur along the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, off the coast of Tamil Nadu, and together support more than 13 species of seagrass (the highest diversity in the Indian Ocean).
Seagrass in Lakshadweep and Kachchh is patchy and threatened by port activities and pollution. Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have minor, limited seagrass habitats unsuitable for dugongs.

Location & Establishment: Also known as Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary, located in the Dahod district of Gujarat, borders Jhabua and Kathiwada regions of Madhya Pradesh that are both known for tiger population.
It was declared a sanctuary in 1982.
Flora: It has dry teak forests at the foothills and mixed deciduous forests with dry bamboo thickets on the periphery, with a high concentration of Mahua and Jamun trees, key food sources for sloth bears.
Fauna: It is a crucial habitat for the Sloth Bear, supporting the maximum population of this species in the entire state of Gujarat. It also hosts a large population of leopards.
Ecological Significance: Forms the catchment of river Panam, supporting water conservation and irrigation in Dahod and Panchmahals districts.

World Television Day is observed on 21 November each year.
The UN established the observance in 1996 after the first World Television Forum.
Debate during the UN vote centred on media accessibility and the relevance of an additional observance.
The day emphasises television’s role in highlighting global issues and influencing decision-making.

A Geographical Indication tag protects products linked to a specific region and traditional knowledge.
Arunachal Pradesh has secured about 20 GI-tagged items to date.
The GI for the dao supports preservation of tribal blacksmithing techniques.
India’s GI Registry operates under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

The UAE contributed $1.46 billion in global humanitarian aid in 2025.
It ranks third globally, after the United States and the European Union.
Its contribution represents 7.2% of total aid recorded by the UN for the year.
Palestine received the largest share of UAE’s assistance, followed by Sudan and other crisis-affected regions.