UPSC current affairs, 14-20 Sep, 2026

Why in the news

• The Union Environment Ministry issued a fresh draft notification on 27 July 2026 proposing an Ecologically Sensitive Area across parts of the Western Ghats.
• Residents of several Kerala villages objected to their inclusion, arguing that inaccurate mapping could affect housing, agriculture and local infrastructure.
• The Ministry invited public comments on the draft until 25 September 2026. MoEFCC notification update

Importance of the Western Ghats

• The Western Ghats extend for approximately 1,600 kilometres through Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• They are one of the world’s major biodiversity hotspots, with high levels of endemism.
• They influence the Indian monsoon and contain the headwaters of several peninsular rivers, including the Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and Periyar.
• Parts of the Western Ghats are recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel

• The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel was constituted in 2010 under ecologist Madhav Gadgil.

• It is commonly called the Gadgil Committee.

• It treated the Western Ghats as a connected ecological system rather than a collection of isolated protected areas.

• It recommended declaring the entire Western Ghats landscape an Ecologically Sensitive Area.

• It proposed three regulatory categories:

  • ESZ-1: Areas of the highest ecological sensitivity, requiring the strongest restrictions.
  • ESZ-2: Areas where limited development could continue under environmental safeguards.
  • ESZ-3: Relatively less sensitive areas where development could be permitted with regulation.

• It recommended:

  • Prohibition of mining in the most sensitive areas.
  • Phasing out highly polluting industries.
  • Restrictions on large dams and environmentally destructive construction.
  • Greater decision-making power for gram sabhas and local governments.
  • Creation of a statutory Western Ghats Ecology Authority under the Environment (Protection) Act.

• State governments criticised the recommendations as too extensive and difficult to implement in a densely inhabited landscape.

Kasturirangan Committee

• The High-Level Working Group chaired by K. Kasturirangan was constituted after objections to the Gadgil report.

• It distinguished between:

  • Natural landscape: Forests, wildlife habitats and relatively undisturbed ecosystems.
  • Cultural landscape: Settlements, plantations and agricultural land substantially modified by human activity.

• It recommended bringing approximately 37% of the Western Ghats—about 59,940 square kilometres—under the proposed ESA.

• It excluded most settlements, plantations and agricultural areas from the recommended ESA.

• It proposed prohibiting mining, quarrying, sand mining, thermal power plants and highly polluting industries in the ESA.

• Its narrower, satellite-based approach became the basis for subsequent Union government draft notifications. Kasturirangan committee report

Oommen V. Oommen Committee

• Kerala appointed a State-level expert committee chaired by Oommen V. Oommen to examine the Kasturirangan recommendations.
• It conducted field-level consultations in affected areas.
• It recommended excluding inhabited areas, farms and plantations from the ESA.
• It favoured cadastral and ground-level mapping instead of relying only on satellite images.
• Its recommendations reflected Kerala’s distinctive settlement pattern, where villages, farms, plantations and forest areas frequently overlap.

Core policy issue

• An ESA is not the same as a national park or wildlife sanctuary.
• It principally regulates environmentally harmful activities rather than evicting existing residents.
• Incorrect mapping can nevertheless produce uncertainty over construction, land use and local development.
• Final demarcation should therefore combine scientific conservation criteria with cadastral maps, physical verification and gram-sabha consultation.

Why in the news

• A proposal was made that legislators who leave their political party during a term should resign and obtain a fresh mandate from voters.
• The proposal seeks to address defections engineered to alter a government’s majority without a general election.

Constitutional origin

• The Tenth Schedule contains India’s anti-defection law.

• It was inserted by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985.

• It applies to members of:

  • Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
  • State Legislative Assemblies.
  • State Legislative Councils.

Grounds for disqualification

• A member elected on a political party’s ticket can be disqualified if the member:

  • Voluntarily gives up membership of that political party.
  • Votes or abstains contrary to a party direction without prior permission.
  • Is not condoned by the party within 15 days of such voting or abstention.

• “Voluntarily giving up membership” does not require a formal resignation.

• Courts have held that it may be inferred from conduct, public statements or openly supporting another party.

Independent members

• A legislator elected as an independent candidate is disqualified upon joining a political party after the election.
• This prevents an independent mandate from being converted into party membership after the result.

Nominated members

• A nominated member may join a political party within six months of taking the seat.
• Joining a party after six months attracts disqualification.

Party whip

• A whip is a direction issued by a political party to its legislators regarding voting or attendance.

• Under the present law, disobedience of a party direction can trigger disqualification even when the vote does not determine the government’s survival.

• This can restrict legislative debate and reduce legislators to representatives of their parties rather than their constituencies.

• Reform proposals have suggested restricting disqualification to:

  • Confidence motions.
  • No-confidence motions.
  • Money Bills.
  • Other votes directly affecting the government’s survival.

Merger exception

• Paragraph 4 protects legislators when their original political party merges with another party.
• At least two-thirds of the members of the legislature party must agree to the merger.
• Members who accept the merger and members who reject it and function as a separate group are protected under the paragraph.
• A merger of legislators alone should not be confused with a genuine organisational merger of the original political party.

Removal of the split exception

• The original Tenth Schedule protected a “split” involving at least one-third of a legislature party.
• This provision was frequently used to legitimise engineered defections.
• The 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003 removed the split exception.
• The amendment also prevents a disqualified defector from immediately becoming a minister until re-election or expiry of the legislative term.

Decision-making authority

• The Speaker or Chairman of the House decides disqualification petitions.
• This arrangement is criticised because the presiding officer ordinarily belongs to a political party.
• Delayed decisions can allow a defector to vote in crucial proceedings and alter the government before disqualification is decided.

Judicial interpretation

• Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu: The Supreme Court upheld the Tenth Schedule but held that the presiding officer’s decision is subject to judicial review.
• Ravi S. Naik v. Union of India: Voluntarily giving up party membership may be inferred from conduct.
• G. Viswanathan v. Speaker: An expelled member continues to be treated as belonging to the original party for anti-defection purposes.
• Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Speaker: The Court said disqualification petitions should ordinarily be decided within three months, except in extraordinary circumstances.
• Judicial review generally examines mala fides, constitutional violations, perversity and denial of natural justice rather than rehearing the entire political dispute.

Resignation and disqualification

• A member may resign under Articles 101 or 190, but the Speaker must verify that the resignation is voluntary and genuine.
• Resignation should not automatically extinguish disqualification proceedings concerning conduct that occurred earlier.
• Otherwise, legislators could resign immediately before a ruling, contest again and obtain ministerial office.

Suggested reforms

• Establish an independent tribunal or empower the Election Commission to decide petitions.

• Prescribe a binding time limit.

• Restrict whips to votes affecting government stability.

• Require a defector seeking to join another party to obtain a fresh electoral mandate.

• Distinguish individual dissent from organised conduct intended to overturn an elected majority.

• The complete grounds and exceptions appear in the official text of the Tenth Schedule.

Why in the news

• The Union Home Minister said several NDA-governed States were considering their own Uniform Civil Code legislation.
• The development raises questions about equality, religious freedom, tribal customs and the legislative powers of Parliament and State legislatures.

Meaning of a Uniform Civil Code

• A UCC would establish common civil rules for citizens irrespective of religion.

• It may cover:

  • Marriage and its registration.
  • Conditions for a valid marriage.
  • Divorce and maintenance.
  • Adoption and guardianship.
  • Wills and intestate succession.
  • Inheritance and property distribution.
  • Rights of spouses and children.

• It would concern civil and family relations, not the practice of religion in every sphere.

• Criminal law is already broadly uniform across religious communities.

Constitutional foundation

• Article 44 states that the State shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code throughout India.

• Article 44 is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy.

• Under Article 37:

  • Directive Principles are not directly enforceable by courts.
  • They remain fundamental to the governance of the country.
  • Legislatures are expected to consider them while making laws.

Legislative competence

• Entry 5 of the Concurrent List covers:

  • Marriage and divorce.
  • Infants and minors.
  • Adoption.
  • Wills.
  • Intestacy and succession.
  • Joint family and partition.
  • Matters historically governed by personal law.

• Parliament and State legislatures can both legislate on these subjects. Constitution, Concurrent List

• Under Article 254:

  • A central law normally prevails when a State law conflicts with it.
  • A conflicting State law may operate within that State if it receives presidential assent.
  • Parliament can subsequently override such a State law.

Relevant Fundamental Rights

• Article 14: Equality before the law and equal protection of laws.
• Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds including religion and sex.
• Article 21: Protection of life, dignity, liberty and privacy.
• Article 25: Freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion.
• Articles 29 and 30: Protection of cultural and educational rights.
• Personal-law reform must balance these rights rather than treating Article 44 as an unrestricted power.

Arguments supporting a UCC

• It can establish equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, maintenance and inheritance.
• It can provide consistent protection for children.
• It may simplify overlapping personal laws and judicial procedures.
• It can create legal certainty in interfaith marriages and family disputes.
• It may ensure that civil rights do not depend on a person’s religious identity.

Concerns and objections

• Uniformity may be confused with imposing the practices of the majority community.
• A single code may ignore legitimate regional, customary and tribal diversity.
• Family law is closely connected with identity, culture and community institutions.
• Poorly drafted legislation may reduce individual autonomy or create intrusive registration requirements.
• Different State codes could produce conflicts when people marry, migrate, own property or reside in different States.

Tribal and customary-law protections

• Tribal communities may possess constitutionally recognised systems of marriage, inheritance and community landholding.
• The Fifth and Sixth Schedules provide special governance arrangements in tribal areas.
• Article 371 and other provisions protect certain customary practices in specific States.
• Any national UCC must explain whether these protections will continue and how conflicts will be resolved.
• The Uttarakhand UCC expressly exempts Scheduled Tribes and groups whose customary rights are protected under Part XXI of the Constitution. Uttarakhand UCC Act

Existing Indian examples

• Goa continues to apply a civil-code system derived from the Portuguese Civil Code, although it contains exceptions and is not completely uniform.
• Uttarakhand enacted its UCC in 2024 and implemented rules in 2025.
• The Uttarakhand framework covers marriage, divorce, succession and registration of live-in relationships. Official Uttarakhand UCC portal

Important Supreme Court cases

• Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum: The Court upheld maintenance for a divorced Muslim woman under the secular criminal-procedure framework and referred to Article 44.
• Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India: Conversion to another religion cannot be used to contract a second marriage without legally dissolving the first.
• John Vallamattom v. Union of India: The Court invalidated a discriminatory restriction affecting Christian testamentary gifts.
• Shayara Bano v. Union of India: Instant triple talaq was invalidated, illustrating that discriminatory personal-law practices can be reformed without first enacting a complete UCC.
• Judicial observations favouring a UCC do not themselves create one; legislation remains necessary.

Law Commission’s approach

• The 21st Law Commission’s 2018 consultation paper argued that a UCC was neither necessary nor desirable at that stage.
• It instead prioritised reforming discriminatory provisions within each personal-law system.
• This approach is sometimes described as achieving equality through harmonisation rather than immediate complete uniformity.
• The Law Commission subsequently reopened public consultation on the UCC. Law Commission archive

Possible models

• Comprehensive mandatory code: Replaces most personal laws with one statute.
• Common minimum-rights model: Retains distinct personal laws but imposes common rules on consent, marriageable age, monogamy, maintenance, custody and gender-equal inheritance.
• Optional code: Allows citizens to choose a common civil framework, although unequal social power may complicate genuine choice.
• Gradual reform: Removes discriminatory provisions one subject at a time before consolidating the rules.

Way forward

• Publish a complete draft before enactment.
• Conduct consultations with women’s organisations, religious communities, tribal bodies, States and legal experts.
• Protect individual equality within communities, not merely equality between communities.
• Preserve constitutionally protected customs unless they violate dignity or fundamental rights.
• Provide simple registration, appeal and grievance procedures.
• Avoid excessive collection or public disclosure of sensitive family information.
• Harmonise State and central laws to prevent uncertainty in interstate cases.

Why in the news

• Delhi’s Atal Canteens were examined as a subsidised cooked-meal programme for low-income urban residents.

Key points

• Meals are supplied for ₹5 at approximately 100 canteens.
• The government pays most of the meal cost to contracted providers.
• Intended beneficiaries include migrant workers, homeless people and informal workers.
• Cooked meals complement the Public Distribution System because many urban workers lack kitchens, fuel or stable accommodation.
• Evaluation should cover nutrition, hygiene, accessibility, waiting time and regularity.
• Biometric authentication requires a reliable exception mechanism so technical failure does not result in denial of food.

Why in the news

• The twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks prompted an assessment of changes in terrorism and counter-terrorism.

Key points

• Threats now include decentralised cells, lone actors, online radicalisation, drones, cyberattacks and encrypted communication.
• India requires better intelligence coordination among central and State agencies.
• Financial intelligence is essential for detecting terror funding and illicit transfers.
• Critical infrastructure, borders, coastlines and airports require technological protection.
• International cooperation is needed for extradition, evidence sharing and action against online propaganda.
• Counter-terrorism laws must remain proportionate and subject to legislative and judicial oversight.
• Military deterrence cannot substitute for prevention, investigation, community trust and lawful prosecution.

Why in the News

• The Government commemorated the 150th birth anniversary of Bengali novelist Saratchandra Chattopadhyay, highlighting his contribution to literature, social reform, women’s rights and nationalism. PIB release

Background

• Saratchandra Chattopadhyay was born in 1876 and became one of the most widely read writers of modern Bengali literature.
• He used simple, conversational Bengali instead of highly Sanskritised literary language, making his works accessible to ordinary readers.
• His novels portrayed nineteenth- and early twentieth-century rural Bengal, including poverty, caste discrimination, patriarchy, social conservatism and conflict between individual choice and social expectations.
• His important works include Devdas, Parineeta, Srikanta, Charitraheen, Grihadaha and Pather Dabi.
• Many of his works were translated into Indian and foreign languages and subsequently adapted for theatre, cinema and television.

Social-Reform Dimension

• Women occupy central positions in many of his stories and are often portrayed as emotionally resilient individuals constrained by patriarchal customs.
• His writings questioned child marriage, restrictions imposed on widows, rigid notions of female morality and the unequal standards applied to men and women.
• His treatment of socially marginalised characters encouraged readers to examine the difference between institutional morality and human compassion.
• His novels should be treated as literary representations of contemporary social debates, rather than as precise historical records.

Nationalist Dimension

• Pather Dabi depicted a secret revolutionary organisation struggling against colonial rule.
• The colonial government banned the novel because it considered its revolutionary and anti-imperial message politically dangerous.
• His nationalism was connected with dignity, resistance to injustice and the social emancipation of Indians, rather than being limited to political independence.

UPSC Relevance

• Saratchandra’s writings help connect modern Indian literature with the Bengal Renaissance, social reform, women’s emancipation and anti-colonial nationalism.
• His work also demonstrates how vernacular literature created political and social consciousness beyond the English-educated elite.

Why in the News

• The President and other national leaders greeted people on Nuakhai, a major agrarian festival of western Odisha. PIB release

Meaning and Celebration

• The word “Nuakhai” combines nua, meaning new, and khai, meaning food or eating.
• The festival marks the ceremonial consumption of newly harvested grain, particularly rice.
• It is generally celebrated on Bhadrava Shukla Panchami, shortly after Ganesh Chaturthi.
• A prescribed auspicious time, known as the lagna, is fixed for offering the new crop to the presiding deity.
• In Sambalpur, the first harvested grain is traditionally offered to Goddess Samaleswari.
• Families subsequently consume the new grain together and seek blessings from elders.

Social and Cultural Significance

• Nuakhai expresses gratitude to nature, agricultural land, cattle, local deities and farming communities.
• It signifies the beginning of a new agricultural cycle and reflects the dependence of rural society on seasonal rainfall and crop yields.
• The festival is observed by both tribal and non-tribal communities, making it an example of shared regional culture.
• Nuakhai Bhetghat refers to community gatherings through which relatives and migrants reconnect through music, dance and collective meals.
• The celebration illustrates how agricultural festivals combine economic life, ecological knowledge, religious practice and community solidarity.

Wider Context

• Nuakhai belongs to India’s larger tradition of harvest festivals, alongside Pongal, Makar Sankranti, Bihu, Onam and Lohri.
• Its distinctiveness lies in the ritual offering and communal consumption of the season’s first grain in western Odisha.

Why in the News

• National leaders conveyed greetings on Samvatsari and emphasised forgiveness, compassion and harmony. PIB release

What is Samvatsari?

• Samvatsari is the concluding and most important day of Paryushana for the Shvetambara Jain community.
• Paryushana is a period of fasting, self-discipline, scripture reading, introspection and purification.
• Devotees undertake pratikraman, a structured examination of actions, speech and thoughts, followed by repentance for harm caused.
• At the end of the observance, people seek forgiveness from all living beings through the expression Micchami Dukkadam.
• The expression conveys the intention that wrongs committed knowingly or unknowingly should be forgiven and rendered spiritually ineffective.

Philosophical Foundations

• Ahimsa: Avoiding injury to living beings through actions, speech and thoughts.
• Aparigraha: Limiting possessions and reducing attachment, greed and accumulation.
• Anekantavada: Recognising that reality can be understood from multiple perspectives and that no limited human viewpoint contains the complete truth.
• Karma: Jain philosophy treats harmful conduct and passions as causes of karmic bondage; repentance and disciplined conduct support spiritual purification.
• Forgiveness is therefore not merely social etiquette. It is an ethical practice aimed at overcoming anger, pride, deceit and greed.

Samvatsari and Kshamavani

• Samvatsari is particularly associated with the Shvetambara conclusion of Paryushana.
• Digambara Jains observe forgiveness through Kshamavani after the Das Lakshana festival.
• Both traditions emphasise repentance and reconciliation, although their calendars and ritual frameworks differ.

Contemporary Relevance

• Samvatsari offers an indigenous ethical framework for reconciliation, non-violence and peaceful resolution of interpersonal conflict.
• Anekantavada is also relevant to democratic dialogue because it encourages intellectual humility and respect for alternative viewpoints.

Why in the News

• A commemorative postage stamp was released in honour of Sant Malook Das, also written as Sant Malukdas. PIB release

Historical Background

• Sant Malook Das (1574–1682) was a seventeenth-century North Indian Bhakti saint and Hindi poet who lived during the Mughal period. He was associated with Kara, near Prayagraj in present-day Uttar Pradesh.
• His teachings form part of the wider Sant tradition, which communicated spiritual ideas through vernacular languages rather than limiting them to Sanskrit scholarship.
• His followers came to be associated with the Maluk Panth.
• He stressed devotion, compassion, truthfulness, service and concern for human welfare.
• His compositions presented religion as an inward ethical discipline rather than dependence on empty ritual or social status.

Understanding His Bhakti

• Sant Malook Das regarded Ram as an embodiment of truth, duty, compassion, justice and sacrifice.
• His use of “Ram” should be understood within the Bhakti vocabulary of devotion and ethical consciousness, rather than only as reference to a political or institutional identity.
• His teachings questioned spiritual pride and encouraged service to the poor and vulnerable.
• Vernacular verses enabled his ideas to reach artisans, cultivators and communities outside courtly and priestly circles.

Place in the Bhakti Movement

• The Bhakti movement promoted a personal relationship between the devotee and the divine.
• Many Bhakti and Sant teachers criticised caste hierarchy, religious exclusiveness and excessive ritualism.
• Regional languages, devotional poetry, music and oral transmission helped create broader cultural communities.
• Sant Malook Das represents the socially engaged dimension of Bhakti in which devotion was linked with compassion and public welfare.

Why in the News

• The Central Consumer Protection Authority imposed a ₹10-lakh penalty on Rapido over allegedly misleading advance-tipping prompts in its application. PIB release

What are Dark Patterns?

• Dark patterns are interface designs deliberately constructed to manipulate users into decisions they may not otherwise take.
• They interfere with free and informed consumer choice by exploiting behavioural tendencies such as urgency, guilt, fatigue, fear of missing out or inattentiveness.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 treats deceptive online practices as a consumer-protection issue even when the misleading act is embedded in interface design rather than conventional advertising.

Issues Identified in the Case

• The application allegedly suggested that paying a higher tip would improve the likelihood of obtaining a ride, without adequate evidence supporting the claim.
• The tip was sought before the service had been performed, weakening its character as a voluntary reward for satisfactory service.
• Higher payment options were visually emphasised, while the lower or zero-payment options were comparatively discouraged.
• This may constitute interface interference, where visual presentation directs users towards the platform’s preferred choice.
• Language that causes embarrassment, fear or guilt when a consumer rejects an option may constitute confirm shaming.

Regulatory Framework

• The Central Consumer Protection Authority was established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• It can investigate unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements affecting consumers as a class.
• The 2023 Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns identify 13 prohibited practices, including false urgency, basket sneaking, subscription traps, confirm shaming and interface interference. Official guidelines
• The Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025 provide for voluntary tipping after completion of the ride.

Important Conceptual Distinction

• Persuasive design makes an option attractive while still allowing an informed and uncomplicated choice.
• A dark pattern conceals information, creates artificial pressure or makes refusal unreasonably difficult.
• Dynamic pricing may respond transparently to demand and supply; it becomes problematic when the platform misrepresents the reason for a charge or disguises it as a voluntary payment.

Significance

• The decision establishes that consumer protection applies to the complete digital journey, including colours, button placement, default selections and wording.
• Effective regulation requires interface audits, accessible cancellation, clear price disclosure and privacy-preserving evidence about user behaviour.

Source: Ministry of Rural Development

• Why in news: Nepal’s August flash flood carried water, boulders and unusually heavy sediment through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems, damaging settlements and hydropower projects. ICIMOD identified possible downstream effects extending into Nuwakot and Dhading districts.

• Peak water: It is the stage at which annual runoff from melting glaciers reaches its maximum. Initially, accelerated melting increases river flow. Once glacier mass becomes substantially depleted, meltwater contribution begins to decline.

• Why it matters: The Himalaya supplies water to major Asian river systems. Declining post-peak flows can affect irrigation, drinking water, hydropower, groundwater recharge and dry-season river discharge.

• Accelerating glacier loss: ICIMOD reports that Hindu Kush Himalayan glaciers have been losing ice at roughly twice the rate observed before 2000.

• Glacial-lake risk: Retreating glaciers can leave lakes impounded by loose moraine. Failure of these natural barriers can produce a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF.

• Sediment problem: Heavy rainfall, glacier melt, landslides and thawing permafrost increase sediment in Himalayan rivers. Hard minerals such as quartz can abrade turbines, while sedimentation reduces reservoir capacity.

• Hydropower vulnerability: Hydropower plants may be designed for a particular volume of water but remain vulnerable to boulders, sediment, channel shifts, landslides and sudden flood pulses.

• Development challenge: Nepal depends heavily on hydropower for domestic electricity and export earnings. This creates a difficult balance between renewable-energy expansion and exposure to climate-amplified mountain hazards.

• Required response: Basin-level monitoring, sediment-sensitive engineering, GLOF early-warning systems, safer worker accommodation, decentralised renewable-energy alternatives and transboundary data-sharing are necessary.

• UPSC focus: Connect cryosphere change with disaster management, energy security, transboundary rivers, climate adaptation and resilient infrastructure.

• Why in news: The new GDP series uses 2022-23 as its base year instead of 2011-12. The revision has renewed discussion about changes in India’s nominal GDP estimates and sectoral measurement.

• Base year: It is the reference year whose prices and economic structure are used to compare output across time. A suitable base year should be relatively normal and supported by reliable data.

• Why revise it? Consumption patterns, technology, relative prices, industrial composition and data availability change over time. An outdated base year may assign excessive importance to declining activities and insufficient weight to emerging ones.

• Nominal GDP: It measures output at current prices. It can rise because production has increased, prices have increased, or both.

• Real GDP: It measures output using constant prices, allowing changes in production volume to be separated from inflation.

• Methodological changes: According to MoSPI’s new-series documentation, base revision can introduce new data sources, updated classifications, revised weights and improved estimation methods.

• Unincorporated sector: Surveys such as the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises provide better evidence about informal and small enterprises than extrapolation from older benchmarks.

• Effect on past estimates: A base revision can change both the estimated size of the economy and sectoral growth rates. A lower revised nominal GDP does not necessarily mean output suddenly contracted; it may reflect better measurement of the original level.

• Back series: Earlier years must eventually be recalculated using methods consistent with the new series. Without a sufficiently long back series, comparisons across the break remain difficult.

• UPSC focus: Understand base year, current and constant prices, GDP versus GVA, deflators, back series and why statistical revisions should be evaluated through methodology rather than only headline numbers.

• Why in news: The Central Consumer Protection Authority is examining allegations that an Apple software update impaired some devices while affected users were asked to pay substantial repair costs.

• Consumer issue: A software update is supplied by the manufacturer after purchase. If it reduces functionality or causes damage, questions arise about defective services, unfair contract terms and responsibility for consequential repair costs.

• CCPA: Established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, it can investigate violations of consumer rights, order the recall of unsafe goods, require reimbursement and act against unfair trade practices or misleading advertisements.

• Right to repair: Consumers should have reasonable access to repair information, diagnostic tools, spare parts, software support and independent repair services.

• Indian framework: The government’s Right to Repair portal covers mobile and electronic devices, consumer durables, automobiles and farming equipment.

• Why manufacturers restrict repair: They cite cybersecurity, safety, intellectual property, protection against counterfeit parts and risks created by unauthorised modification.

• Consumer concerns: Repair monopolies can raise costs, reduce product life, make minor failures economically irreparable and force premature replacement.

• Environmental connection: Repairability promotes product longevity, reuse and resource efficiency while reducing electronic waste.

• Important distinction: Right to repair does not mean that every third-party intervention must remain covered by the original warranty. It instead seeks fair information, genuine choice and proportionate restrictions.

• UPSC focus: Relate the issue to consumer rights, regulatory powers, standard-form contracts, e-waste and the balance between intellectual property and market competition.

• Why in news: India constituted a committee to improve exporter preparedness for the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM.

• Carbon leakage: It occurs when carbon-intensive production shifts from a jurisdiction with strict climate rules to one with weaker rules, or when cheaper high-carbon imports replace more expensive domestic production.

• How CBAM works: EU importers must report the emissions embedded in covered goods and surrender certificates reflecting the carbon price that equivalent EU production would face.

• Link with EU ETS: The certificate price is linked to allowances under the European Union Emissions Trading System. A carbon price already paid in the exporting country may be deducted.

• Covered sectors: The definitive CBAM regime covers iron and steel, cement, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen.

• Embedded emissions: These are emissions generated during production, including specified emissions from inputs or precursor materials.

• Why Indian exporters are affected: Steel and aluminium producers must measure plant-level emissions, obtain verification and provide reliable data to their EU customers.

• MSME challenge: Smaller manufacturers may face high monitoring, reporting and verification costs even when their direct export volumes are limited.

• Trade concern: Developing countries argue that a unilateral border charge can disregard different national circumstances and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

• EU position: The EU presents CBAM as an environmental measure that treats imported and domestic products equivalently and is designed to comply with WTO rules.

• UPSC focus: Prepare carbon pricing, carbon leakage, EU ETS, embedded emissions, WTO non-discrimination and the effects of environmental standards on developing-country exports.

• Why in the news: The Allahabad High Court protected an adult woman’s decision to convert and live with a partner of her choice. Separately, the Union government told the Delhi High Court that a person may nominate a same-sex partner for certain medical purposes, subject to applicable legal safeguards.
• Article 21: The right to life and personal liberty includes dignity, privacy, bodily integrity, decisional autonomy and the freedom to choose one’s partner.
• Article 25: It protects freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion. This freedom is subject to public order, morality, health and other Fundamental Rights.
• Judicial position:
  • Lata Singh v. State of U.P. protected an adult’s right to marry by choice.
  • Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. held that the choice of a partner is part of individual liberty.
  • Shakti Vahini v. Union of India condemned interference by families or community bodies in adult relationships.
  • K.S. Puttaswamy and Navtej Singh Johar strengthened constitutional protection for privacy, identity and sexual orientation.
• Important distinction: Recognition as a medical nominee does not automatically amount to legal recognition of marriage. Nor does nomination necessarily confer inheritance, adoption, maintenance or other spousal rights.
• UPSC relevance: The issue illustrates the movement from a community-centred understanding of personal law towards constitutional protection of individual choice and dignity.

• Why in the news: A reported collision or dangerous close-quarters encounter involving Pakistan’s PNS Humain and an Indian naval warship in the North Arabian Sea renewed concern about maritime risk-management between the two countries.
• COLREGs: The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea prescribe rules on:
  • Maintaining a proper lookout;
  • Proceeding at a safe speed;
  • Assessing collision risks;
  • Responsibilities of overtaking, crossing and head-on vessels;
  • Using lights, shapes and sound signals.
• 1991 bilateral agreement: The India–Pakistan Agreement on Advance Notice of Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements contains confidence-building provisions intended to prevent threatening military conduct and dangerously close approaches.
• UNCLOS principle: Warships enjoy navigational rights but must exercise “due regard” for the rights and safety of other vessels.
• Why accidents are dangerous: A collision between military vessels can be mistaken for deliberate aggression, particularly when political relations are already tense.
• Required measures:
  • Operational naval hotlines;
  • Standard bridge-to-bridge communication;
  • Advance notification of major exercises;
  • Joint investigation procedures;
  • Professional adherence to navigational rules.
• UPSC relevance: This is an example of how confidence-building measures prevent tactical incidents from escalating into strategic crises.

• Why in the news: Questions were raised about the economic, environmental and vehicle-performance consequences of nationwide E20 petrol use.
• Meaning: E20 contains approximately 20% anhydrous ethanol and 80% petrol by volume. Anhydrous ethanol contains very little water and can therefore be blended with petrol.
• Government objective: India advanced the target of 20% ethanol blending from 2030 to the 2025–26 ethanol-supply year. The government reported that average blending reached 20% during November 2025–June 2026. PIB’s E20 clarification
• Potential benefits:
  • Reduced crude-oil imports;
  • Additional demand for agricultural feedstock;
  • Lower carbon-monoxide and certain hydrocarbon emissions;
  • Support for domestic ethanol production and rural industries.
• Fuel-efficiency concern: Ethanol has lower energy content per litre than petrol. Vehicles designed for E10 may therefore experience some reduction in mileage when using E20. Engine optimisation can reduce this loss. Government explanation of efficiency effects
• Food–fuel question: Large-scale use of sugarcane, maize or other food crops for ethanol can affect crop prices, groundwater, land use and food availability.
• Environmental assessment: Tailpipe emissions alone are insufficient. A proper life-cycle analysis must include cultivation, irrigation, fertiliser, processing, transport and changes in vehicle mileage.
• Policy options: Clearly labelled fuel choices, flex-fuel vehicles, feedstock diversification, second-generation ethanol from crop residue and periodic assessment of consumer costs.

• Why in the news: Conservation authorities considered strengthening the recovery programme for the pygmy hog, while the existing breeding-and-release programme proposed expanding reintroductions in Assam.
• Scientific name: Porcula salvania.
• Characteristics:
  • It is the world’s smallest wild pig.
  • It is the sole surviving species of the genus Porcula.
  • It builds grass nests and depends on dense, tall and seasonally wet grasslands.
• Distribution: It was historically found across the southern Himalayan foothills but is now confined mainly to fragmented grasslands in Assam.
• Conservation status: It is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
• Ecological importance: The species is an indicator of healthy alluvial grasslands. Protecting its habitat also benefits the hispid hare, Bengal florican and other grassland-dependent species.
• Threats: Conversion of grasslands, uncontrolled burning, overgrazing, invasive plants, flood-related habitat changes and fragmentation.
• Conservation approach: Captive breeding, genetic management, preparation of release sites, post-release monitoring and restoration of natural grassland-burning cycles.
• Policy development: The National Board for Wildlife considered including the pygmy hog under the Species Recovery Programme in 2026. PIB release

• Why in the news: An expert commentary argued that India needs reliable evidence about how its research funding, peer review, publication and scientific institutions actually function.
• Meaning: Metascience, or the “science of science”, uses empirical methods to study the production, evaluation and communication of scientific knowledge.
• Areas examined:
  • Allocation and concentration of research grants;
  • Time taken to approve grants;
  • Peer-review quality;
  • Replication and reproducibility;
  • Publication bias;
  • Career progression and institutional diversity;
  • Collaboration between disciplines and institutions.
• Replication crisis: Some published findings cannot be reproduced by independent researchers because of weak methods, small samples, selective reporting or inaccessible data.
• Publication bias: Journals are more likely to publish positive or striking findings than negative or inconclusive results, producing a distorted evidence base.
• Goodhart’s law: When a measurement becomes a target, it may cease to be a useful measurement. For example, excessive reliance on citation counts can encourage superficial publication rather than meaningful research.
• Indian relevance: Better data can help institutions such as DST, DBT, CSIR, ICMR and ANRF evaluate whether funding reaches new researchers, neglected regions and socially important fields.
• Caution: Metascience should improve institutions, not reduce individual researchers to citation scores or rankings.

Why in the news

• The proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh has faced opposition from local communities concerned about displacement, ecological damage and seismic risks.
• The Arunachal Pradesh government stated that affected villages would not be forced to accept the project.
• The proposed project could have an installed capacity of approximately 11,000–12,500 MW, making it one of India’s largest hydropower projects.

Strategic background

• The Siang enters Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet, where it is called the Yarlung Tsangpo.

• It later joins the Dibang and Lohit rivers to form the Brahmaputra in Assam.

• China is constructing a very large hydropower project near Medog, close to the river’s entry into India.

• India views the Siang project partly as a mechanism to:

  • Moderate sudden downstream floods.
  • Store water during abnormal upstream releases.
  • Improve India’s capacity to monitor the river.
  • Strengthen energy and water security in the eastern region.

Potential benefits

• Generation of large quantities of renewable electricity.
• Flood moderation for downstream areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
• Improved water availability during lean periods.
• Employment, roads and supporting infrastructure in remote districts.
• Reduction in dependence on fossil-fuel-based electricity.

Major concerns

• A large reservoir could submerge forests, agricultural land and settlements.
• The eastern Himalayas fall within a highly active seismic zone.
• Dams can alter sediment movement, fish migration and the seasonal flow of rivers.
• Indigenous communities may lose customary lands, sacred landscapes and traditional livelihoods.
• Several large projects on the same river can create substantial cumulative ecological impacts.

Way forward

• Conduct an independent cumulative environmental-impact assessment for the entire basin.
• Ensure meaningful consultation with affected tribal communities.
• Recognise customary land and forest rights before land acquisition.
• Establish transparent rehabilitation and benefit-sharing arrangements.
• Strengthen India–China hydrological-data-sharing mechanisms.

Why in the news

• India and Bangladesh resumed official discussions concerning bilateral trade, political relations and a proposed visit by Bangladesh’s Prime Minister to India.
• Renewal of the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty, which completes its original 30-year term in 2026, is expected to be an important bilateral issue.

Ganga Water Sharing Treaty, 1996

• India and Bangladesh signed the treaty for sharing Ganga waters at Farakka.
• It governs water sharing during the lean season from 1 January to 31 May.
• Water availability is calculated in ten-day periods using the flow recorded at Farakka.
• A Joint Committee monitors implementation, examines flow data and addresses operational concerns.
• The treaty principally concerns water quantity and does not comprehensively address pollution, sedimentation, climate change or basin-wide ecological management.

Importance of Bangladesh for India

• Bangladesh connects India’s mainland with its northeastern States through shorter road, rail, river and port routes.
• It is an important partner under the Neighbourhood First and Act East policies.
• Cooperation includes electricity trade, inland waterways, coastal shipping, border management and counterterrorism.
• Bangladesh occupies a strategic position in both BIMSTEC and the BBIN subregional framework.

Continuing challenges

• The proposed agreement on the Teesta River remains unresolved.
• Border killings, smuggling and irregular migration periodically strain relations.
• Domestic political developments in Bangladesh affect perceptions of India.
• China’s growing economic and infrastructure presence adds a strategic dimension.
• Climate change is altering rainfall, river flows, salinity and flood patterns in the shared delta.

Way forward

• Negotiate a transparent, data-based renewal of the Ganga treaty.
• Move from project-specific negotiations towards integrated basin management.
• Expand real-time flood forecasting and hydrological-data exchange.
• Ensure that bilateral cooperation remains broad-based and is not tied to a single political party.

Why in the news

• India’s rice production was reported to be facing one of its sharpest declines in two decades.
• Large government stocks were nevertheless expected to cushion domestic supplies and permit continuity in exports.

Factors influencing rice production

• Irregular monsoon rainfall can delay sowing or reduce yields.
• Floods, droughts, heat stress and pest attacks affect production.
• Rising fertiliser, labour, diesel and irrigation costs influence farmers’ planting decisions.
• Excessive cultivation of water-intensive paddy can worsen groundwater depletion.

Procurement and buffer stocks

• The government procures paddy and rice at the Minimum Support Price.

• The Food Corporation of India and State agencies maintain stocks in the Central Pool.

• These stocks support:

  • Distribution under the National Food Security Act.
  • Welfare and emergency programmes.
  • Price stabilisation during production shortages.
  • Intervention through open-market sales.

• Buffer norms prescribe the minimum operational and strategic stocks that should be available at different points in the year.

Export-policy dilemma

• Export restrictions can increase domestic availability and moderate food inflation.
• However, sudden restrictions reduce farmers’ export opportunities and affect the credibility of India as a reliable supplier.
• Duties, export bans and minimum export prices may also influence international rice prices because India is a major global exporter.
• A durable policy should balance consumer prices, food security, farmer income and predictable international trade.

Who are the Houthis?

• The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, emerged from a Zaydi Shia revivalist movement in northern Yemen.
• The movement takes its popular name from the Houthi family.
• It developed in response to local political marginalisation, economic grievances and opposition to the Yemeni government’s external alliances.

Expansion of the movement

• The Houthis fought repeated conflicts with Yemen’s government during the 2000s.
• They captured the capital, Sana’a, in 2014.
• A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to restore the internationally recognised government.
• The prolonged conflict enabled the Houthis to acquire significant governing, military, missile and drone capabilities.

Relationship with Iran

• Iran has provided the Houthis with political support, military technology and assistance.
• However, the Houthis are not simply an externally created organisation; they have indigenous leadership, local support networks and their own political objectives.
• They are therefore different from both Hamas and Hezbollah, despite being placed within Iran’s broader regional network.

Red Sea significance

• Houthi attacks on commercial vessels have disrupted shipping between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.
• Shipping companies may divert vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, increasing distance, fuel consumption, insurance costs and delivery times.
• Disruption affects India’s trade with Europe and can increase the cost of imported energy and intermediate goods.
• Their growing missile and drone capabilities have turned the conflict in Yemen into a wider maritime-security challenge.

Why in the news

• The Union government asked States to accelerate the creation of Farmer IDs and implementation of AgriStack.
• Telangana and Karnataka had reportedly crossed 75% coverage in Farmer ID creation.
• The government is also expanding Bharat VISTAAR, a digital agricultural-advisory platform. PIB release

What is AgriStack?

• AgriStack is a collection of interoperable digital databases and services intended to create digital public infrastructure for agriculture.

• Its important layers include:

  • A registry of farmers.
  • Digitised and geo-referenced land records.
  • A crop-sown registry based on digital crop surveys.
  • Connections with agricultural schemes, insurance, credit and advisory services.

Farmer ID

• A Farmer ID is intended to provide a unique digital identity linked with the farmer’s agricultural records.
• It can reduce repeated document submission and facilitate targeted scheme delivery.
• It is not automatically the same as proof of land ownership.

Bharat VISTAAR

• Bharat VISTAAR provides agricultural information and advisories through mobile-based interfaces.
• It is planned to support regional languages and integrate information about Central and State schemes.
• It can potentially deliver weather warnings, crop advice, pest-management information and scheme eligibility guidance.

Benefits and concerns

• Better data can improve crop forecasting, disaster relief, insurance settlement and credit delivery.
• Tenant farmers, sharecroppers and women cultivators may be excluded if eligibility is based mainly on formal land records.
• Incorrect records can deny benefits at scale.
• Strong consent, data-minimisation, cybersecurity and grievance-redress safeguards are therefore essential.

Why in the news

• The United States is considering economic measures against India for continuing to purchase Russian crude oil.
• A proposed American Bill seeks to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries purchasing Russian oil.
• India maintained that its energy purchases are guided by national interest, affordability and supply security.
• India has also resumed limited imports from Venezuela and Iran after changes in American sanctions and enforcement policies.

India’s changing sources of crude oil

• Russia emerged as one of India’s largest crude suppliers after the Ukraine conflict because Russian oil was available at discounted prices.
• Russia’s share reportedly declined to 19.3% in February 2026 but rose above 51% in July 2026 following changing market and geopolitical conditions.
• Venezuela accounted for 6.7% of Indian imports in 2017–18. Imports subsequently stopped because of sanctions but recovered to around 4.8% during April–July 2026.
• Iran supplied nearly 10% of India’s crude before American sanctions were restored in 2018. Its share was approximately 1.1% during April–July 2026.

Relevant concepts

• Energy security: Reliable access to adequate energy at affordable prices.
• Source diversification: Purchasing oil from multiple countries to avoid dependence on one supplier or transport route.
• Primary sanctions: Restrictions directly imposed on the sanctioned country or its entities.
• Secondary sanctions: Penalties imposed on third-country companies that continue dealing with sanctioned entities.
• Tariff: A tax on imported goods. Unlike sanctions, it does not necessarily prohibit the underlying transaction.
• Discounted crude: Oil sold below prevailing benchmark prices because the seller faces sanctions, reduced demand or transport difficulties.

Significance for India

• India imports most of the crude oil it consumes; therefore, higher global prices affect inflation, the current-account deficit and the value of the rupee.
• Cheap crude can lower refining costs and protect consumers, but sanctions can complicate payments, shipping, insurance and access to Western financial systems.
• India must balance its strategic autonomy with its commercial and diplomatic relationships with the United States, Russia and West Asian producers.

Why in the news

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Nepal’s Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle to discuss post-flood reconstruction, economic cooperation, energy and connectivity.
• India has offered assistance for Nepal’s recovery following severe floods that damaged settlements, roads, bridges and border infrastructure.
• The engagement is also part of an effort to reset bilateral relations ahead of a proposed visit by Nepal’s Prime Minister.

Areas of cooperation

• Disaster recovery: Reconstruction of housing, schools, health facilities, roads and bridges.
• Energy: Cross-border electricity trade and development of Nepal’s hydropower potential.
• Connectivity: Roads, railways, transmission lines, integrated check posts and aviation access.
• Trade and transit: India provides Nepal with its principal access to seaports and international markets.
• Financial support: Nepal is also seeking assistance from the World Bank, IMF, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and other development partners.

Strategic importance

• Nepal is a landlocked Himalayan country situated between India and China.
• It shares deep economic, cultural and people-to-people ties with India, including an open border.
• Floods near the Nepal–China frontier affected the Rasuwa crossing, highlighting the vulnerability of Himalayan infrastructure.
• Reconstruction assistance can strengthen India’s Neighbourhood First policy and demonstrate its capacity to act as a first responder.

Challenges

• Boundary disagreements and periodic political nationalism continue to affect bilateral relations.
• Infrastructure projects frequently face delays, local opposition and environmental concerns.
• Climate change, glacial hazards and unplanned construction are increasing disaster risks across the Himalayan region.
• Assistance should therefore combine reconstruction with resilient infrastructure, early-warning systems and basin-level cooperation.

Why in the news

• The Election Commission of India froze the name and election symbol claimed by rival factions of a political party.
• Temporary names and symbols were allotted so that the factions could contest the approaching by-elections without misleading voters.

Legal framework

• Article 324: Vests the supervision, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission.
• Representation of the People Act, 1951: Governs matters including political-party registration.
• Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968: Authorises the ECI to recognise parties, allot symbols and determine disputes between rival factions.
• Under Paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order, the Commission may decide which faction should be recognised as the original party.

How the ECI decides a factional dispute

• It may examine support among the party’s elected legislators and parliamentarians.
• It may consider the composition and support within the recognised organisational bodies of the party.
• It can examine the party constitution, objectives and internal decision-making procedure.
• When the evidence is inconclusive or a decision cannot be completed before an election, the existing symbol may be frozen temporarily.

Judicial position

• In Sadiq Ali v. Election Commission of India, the Supreme Court upheld the ECI’s power to decide factional disputes and consider majority support.
• The Commission’s order is quasi-judicial and remains open to judicial review.

Important distinction

• Registration gives an organisation the legal status of a political party.
• Recognition determines whether it is a recognised national or State party.
• Symbol adjudication determines which faction may use the reserved election symbol.

ECI overview | ECI guidance on party disputes

Why in the news

• A parliamentary committee began examining proposed amendments concerning assets created using foreign contributions.
• The proposal allows such funds and assets to vest in a government-appointed authority when an organisation’s FCRA certificate is cancelled, surrendered or allowed to lapse.

What is the FCRA?

• The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions and foreign hospitality.
• Its principal purpose is to prevent foreign funding from adversely affecting national interest, public institutions and specified sensitive activities.
• The present principal legislation is the FCRA, 2010, administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Organisations generally require either FCRA registration or prior government permission to receive foreign contributions.

Proposed asset mechanism

• Assets purchased or constructed using foreign contributions could pass to a designated authority.
• The authority would administer or dispose of such assets according to prescribed rules.
• The proposal becomes important where an organisation loses its legal authorisation to hold or utilise foreign funds.

Constitutional concerns

• Article 300A provides that no person may be deprived of property except by authority of law.
• Vesting assets without a prior hearing may raise questions concerning natural justice and procedural fairness.
• Rules must distinguish assets purchased entirely with foreign funds from those created using mixed domestic and foreign funding.
• Religious, educational and charitable assets may require special safeguards to protect their continued public use.

Way forward

• The law should require an inventory, notice, opportunity to be heard, transparent valuation and an appeal mechanism.
• The authority’s powers, custody period and permissible methods of disposal should be clearly prescribed.
• Regulation should ensure accountability without creating arbitrary expropriation.

Why in the news

• The Marathi film Gondhal was selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.
• The film is situated in rural Maharashtra and uses the setting of an overnight Gondhal ritual.
• Being India’s official entry does not mean that the film has received an Oscar nomination; it must first pass the Academy’s shortlisting and nomination stages.

What is Gondhal?

• Gondhal is a ritualistic folk performance associated principally with Maharashtra.
• It combines devotional singing, narration, music, dance and dramatic enactment.
• Performers narrate stories concerning deities, local heroes, myths and community traditions.
• Members of the Gondhali community have historically preserved and performed the tradition.

Religious and social setting

• Gondhal is commonly associated with the worship of goddesses such as Bhavani and Renuka.
• Traditions connected with Khandoba or Mallari and other regional deities may also be performed.
• It may be organised after weddings, childbirth, fulfilment of a vow or during religious festivals.
• The performance converts a domestic or community space into a ritual arena linking entertainment with worship.

Cultural importance

• It preserves oral histories, regional dialects, music and community memory.
• Like several folk traditions, its continuity depends on intergenerational transmission and adequate livelihood opportunities for performers.
• Its use in cinema demonstrates how intangible cultural heritage can be documented and introduced to wider audiences without converting the ritual merely into spectacle.

Centre for Cultural Resources and Training

Why in the news

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India's per-capita carbon emissions remain below the global average and argued that developing countries bear a disproportionate burden despite their limited historical contribution to climate change.
• India reported that it had achieved two of its three quantitative 2030 climate targets ahead of schedule.

India's 2030 climate targets

• Emissions intensity: Reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45% from the 2005 level.
• Non-fossil electricity capacity: Achieve about 50% cumulative installed electric-power capacity from non-fossil sources.
• Carbon sink: Create an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
• Non-fossil sources reportedly constituted 52.57% of installed electricity capacity by February 2026. The carbon-sink target remains under implementation.
• These targets form part of India's Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC, under the Paris Agreement. NDCs are country-specific climate commitments that are periodically strengthened.

Important concepts

• Emissions intensity means emissions produced per unit of GDP. It can decline even while a country's absolute emissions continue to rise.
• Per-capita emissions divide national emissions by population and indicate the average emissions attributable to each person.
• Historical or cumulative emissions measure greenhouse gases accumulated over time. Developed countries account for a large share because of their earlier industrialisation.
• Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities: All countries must address climate change, but their obligations should reflect historical responsibility and their different financial and technological capacities.
• Climate equity considers per-capita emissions, development needs, historical responsibility, climate finance and access to technology—not merely present annual emissions.

Significance and challenges

• India must balance energy access, industrialisation and poverty reduction with decarbonisation.
• Installed capacity differs from electricity actually generated because renewable sources have variable capacity-utilisation rates.
• Future challenges include grid storage, transmission infrastructure, green finance, forest quality, critical-mineral dependence and a just transition for coal-dependent regions.

India's updated NDC submission

Why in the news

• The Supreme Court observed that forced temperance or total prohibition alone cannot solve alcoholism.
• It referred to recurring hooch tragedies in Gujarat despite its prohibition policy and warned that complete bans may drive liquor markets underground, encouraging adulterated and methanol-laced alcohol.
• The case concerned Maharashtra rules regulating methanol—not a constitutional challenge to prohibition itself.

Constitutional position

• Article 47: A Directive Principle requiring the State to improve public health and endeavour to prohibit intoxicating drinks and drugs harmful to health.
• State List, Entry 8: Gives States power over the production, manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquor.
• State List, Entry 51: Authorises State excise duties on alcoholic liquor for human consumption.
• Directive Principles are not directly enforceable in court, but they guide legislation and governance.

Supreme Court's concerns

• Prohibition can encourage illegal distillation, organised smuggling and methanol poisoning.
• It can also produce corruption within police and excise enforcement, loss of tax revenue and diversion of legitimate industrial chemicals.
• The Court found the impugned methanol rules arbitrary because they burdened legitimate industry without adequately addressing pilferage, diversion and institutional corruption.
• The judgment does not create a fundamental right to trade in liquor. States retain wide regulatory authority, but restrictions must still satisfy constitutional standards of reasonableness and non-arbitrariness.

Better public-health approach

• Combine proportionate regulation with addiction treatment, counselling and rehabilitation.
• Track methanol and industrial solvents through secure supply chains.
• Strengthen inter-State enforcement against smuggling.
• Regulate quality and sale points while undertaking targeted demand reduction.
• Treat alcohol dependence as a health and social problem rather than relying exclusively on criminal penalties.

Constitution of India

Why in the news

• Kerala's antimicrobial-resistance surveillance report found resistant bacteria across intensive-care, hospital and community settings.
• Separately, researchers found indications that Pneumocystis jirovecii, a fungus causing severe pneumonia in immunocompromised persons, may be evolving resistance to mycophenolic acid.

Kerala surveillance findings

• The Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network gathered data from 55 laboratories across all 14 districts.
• It analysed 65,849 unique-patient isolates involving nine priority pathogens during 2025.
• Frequently isolated organisms included E. coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus.
• The findings show that AMR is no longer confined to tertiary hospitals or ICUs.

What is AMR?

• Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, fungi, viruses or parasites evolve so that medicines used against them become ineffective.
• Major drivers include unnecessary prescriptions, incomplete treatment, inappropriate antibiotic use in livestock, poor sanitation, hospital transmission and pharmaceutical residues.
• The One Health approach recognises that human, animal and environmental health are interconnected.
• Resistance leads to longer illnesses, expensive second-line treatment, greater mortality and risks to surgery, transplantation and cancer therapy.

Significance of the fungal study

• Mycophenolic acid is primarily an immunosuppressant used in transplant recipients, not an antifungal medicine.
• It inhibits the IMPDH enzyme in human immune cells. P. jirovecii possesses a similar enzyme, so exposure may unintentionally create evolutionary pressure on the fungus.
• Mutations were much more common in samples from transplant recipients than in non-transplant samples.
• The study illustrates that resistance can arise when a medicine unintentionally acts on a pathogen, even when killing that pathogen was not the medicine's purpose.

Required response

• Hospital antibiotic-stewardship programmes, rapid diagnostics and infection-control practices.
• Prescription and laboratory-based surveillance.
• Regulation of antimicrobial use in livestock.
• Wastewater treatment for hospitals and pharmaceutical facilities.
• Development of new antibiotics, antifungals and vaccines.

WHO overview of antimicrobial resistance

Why in the news

• Investigations reportedly connected Pakistani social-media influencer Shahzad Bhatti with terror-linked recruitment across several Indian States.
• The Union Home Ministry designated the Shahzad Bhatti Network as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
• The network allegedly recruited economically vulnerable young people for arms, narcotics and explosive smuggling and later assigned more serious tasks.

How online recruitment works

• Recruiters use glamour, notoriety, political grievances or religious narratives to attract attention.
• Initial public interaction may shift to private or encrypted channels.
• Recruits are gradually tested through propaganda sharing, money transfers or low-risk logistical tasks.
• Gaming platforms, disappearing messages, cryptocurrencies and cross-border social networks complicate investigation.
• Criminal networks may merge with terrorist organisations by supplying weapons, forged documents, narcotics or local contacts.

UAPA framework

• The First Schedule lists terrorist organisations, while the Fourth Schedule lists persons designated as individual terrorists.
• Under Sections 35 and 36, the Union government may add an organisation or individual to the relevant schedule, while providing a review and denotification mechanism.
• Recruiting persons for terrorist acts is separately punishable under Section 18B.

Policy challenges

• Intelligence agencies need multilingual digital-monitoring and financial-tracing capacity.
• Platforms must respond quickly to lawful requests and prevent repeated reappearance of banned networks.
• Counter-radicalisation should include digital literacy, community intervention and rehabilitation of vulnerable recruits.
• Safeguards remain necessary to prevent arbitrary surveillance, overbroad censorship and wrongful designation.

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

Why in the news

• Scientists and enterprises are developing technologies that convert discarded plastic into fuels, construction products, gases, chemicals and hydrogen.
• These technologies aim to reduce landfill disposal while recovering material or energy value.

Major approaches

• Mechanical recycling: Plastic is sorted, cleaned, shredded, melted and remoulded. It is comparatively simple but requires clean, separated waste.
• Upcycling: Waste is converted into products of higher utility, such as composite panels, blocks or durable consumer products.
• Pyrolysis: Plastic is heated in little or no oxygen, producing pyrolysis oil, combustible gas and solid char.
• Gasification: High-temperature treatment with a controlled amount of oxygen or steam produces syngas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
• Hydrogen production: Experimental processes use plastic-derived compounds as feedstock, sometimes with catalysts, to release hydrogen.

Limitations

• Mixed polymers, multilayer packaging, dyes and additives make recycling difficult.
• Pyrolysis and gasification require emission controls and significant energy.
• Hydrogen derived from plastic is not automatically green; its climate benefit depends on the energy source, emissions and treatment of by-products.
• Conversion technologies should not encourage continued production of unnecessary single-use plastic.

Preferred waste hierarchy

• Refuse and reduce unnecessary plastic.
• Reuse products wherever possible.
• Recycle material through safe mechanical processes.
• Use chemical recycling only for suitable residual streams.
• Dispose of unrecoverable waste scientifically.
• Extended Producer Responsibility should make producers responsible for collecting and processing post-consumer packaging.