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GS Paper: GS1

  • Ralph Lauren to Fendi: Why Indian crafts are easy to borrow, hard to protect

    Why in the News

    Two global luxury houses have carried Indian craft techniques into new collections without acknowledging their origin. A pink evening gown showcased by Ralph Lauren carries aari work, the hook embroidery of Gujarat, described in the label’s own wording as “hand applied embellishments”, and Fendi’s autumn collection carries a mirror work Baguette bag modelled on the mirrored purses sold at Indian craft fairs and priced at around Rs 8 lakh. This follows the appropriation of Kolhapuri chappals by Prada. The tension is stated plainly by practitioners in the field: intellectual property is territorial while culture is not, and a traditional craft has cultural provenance but no clearly identifiable legal owner, so the borrowing is cheap while the community behind the craft has no ready route to recognition, ownership or a share of the value created.

    What does a Geographical Indication protect, and what does it leave out?

    1. What it is: A Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign identifying a good as originating in a defined territory, where a given quality or reputation of that good is attributable to its geographical origin, registered in India under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
    2. What it covers: A GI protects the name, the origin and the reputation of a qualifying product, so an outsider cannot sell a good under that name without meeting the registered specification.
    3. Who can enforce it: Under the Act both registered proprietors and registered authorised users hold the right to seek relief for infringement, including injunctions, damages and an account of profits.
    4. Where it stops: A GI does not necessarily protect every motif, stitch or visual element associated with a craft, so a brand can reproduce the look without using the protected name.

    Why does a traditional craft fall outside conventional intellectual property?

    1. The territorial mismatch: Intellectual property rights are territorial and culture is not, so a right secured in one jurisdiction does not travel with the craft into the market where it is being copied.
    2. No category fits: A centuries old technique may involve an artistic expression, a design, a geographical identity or a protected name, and none of those categories captures a tradition that belongs to a community and has evolved across generations.
    3. Provenance without an owner: Traditional crafts carry cultural provenance and no clearly identifiable legal owner, and that gap is precisely the space that is exploited.
    4. Individual ownership excludes: Vesting a craft right in a single proprietor can exclude the very community that preserved it, so the obvious legal fix reproduces the problem in a different form.

    Why does a recognised right still not produce redress?

    1. Recognition is not capacity: Recognising a right and giving a community the practical capacity to exercise it are two different things, and Indian craft communities hold more of the first than the second.
    2. Cross border litigation is prohibitive: Enforcement against a multinational fashion house has to be pursued in that house’s jurisdiction, and such litigation is resource intensive in a way an artisan collective cannot sustain.
    3. A right on paper: A right without the resources to monitor, negotiate and enforce it is only a right on paper, so monitoring capacity decides whether the right exists in practice.
    4. Where institutional capacity would come from: Producer organisations, cooperatives and other representative bodies can document provenance, organise authorised users, negotiate collectively and pursue enforcement on a community’s behalf.

    How do luxury brands avoid attribution?

    1. The “inspired” framing: European brands work within an inspiration logic that treats a technique as an influence rather than as a source requiring credit.
    2. Renaming the technique: Describing hook embroidery as “hand applied embellishments” detaches the work from the place and the practitioners that gave it its name.
    3. The machine route: Where the work is produced entirely by machine it can be classified as computerised crewel work rather than as aari, which operates as an escape from the craft’s identity altogether.
    4. Asymmetric legal frameworks: Design and copyright frameworks in developed countries are more robust than those of developing countries, so the brand litigates from the stronger jurisdiction.
    5. The value the craft does not capture: The mirror work bag retails at around Rs 8 lakh, while the mirrored purses it draws on are sold at Indian craft fairs at a fraction of that.

    What would a custodianship model require?

    1. Custodianship as the legal test: The law could recognise a community as custodian where a continuing relationship exists between a cultural expression and the community that has preserved, practised and transmitted it.
    2. How provenance would be proved: Historical records, regional practice, oral testimony and community knowledge would together establish that continuing relationship.
    3. What the community would hold: A collective legal identity, documented provenance, enforceable rights and a mechanism for attribution and benefit sharing are the four elements such a framework needs.
    4. The state’s role, bounded: The government should assist with registration, recognition and enforcement while ownership remains with the community, since governments change and cultural custodianship passes across generations.
    5. The decision right that follows: The people who have sustained and transmitted a tradition should have a meaningful role in decisions concerning its protected commercial use.

    Can documentation protect a craft without exposing it?

    1. The case for a registry: A carefully maintained digital registry could document motifs, techniques, names, regions and custodial communities, and would make it much harder for a company to claim a centuries old Indian tradition originated in a European design studio.
    2. What a registry would not do: Such a registry would not grant ownership over every visual similarity, so it functions as evidence of provenance rather than as a monopoly.
    3. The risk of recording: Traditional knowledge cannot simply be recorded and handed to an outside institution, since some knowledge is sacred or restricted and documentation must not result in an outsider gaining control over it.
    4. The opposite failure: Protection should not turn a living craft into a museum piece, so the objective cannot be an absolute community monopoly over every future use of a technique.

    What does the international framework offer?

    1. The negotiation under way: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is working towards international rules addressing misappropriation, attribution, community rights and benefit sharing, and that framework is still being negotiated.
    2. The precedent already adopted: WIPO adopted a treaty in 2024 dealing with genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, which shows international intellectual property law beginning to recognise these questions beyond conventional copyright and patents.
    3. The existing avenue: The Berne Convention gives creators and communities legal avenues to challenge unauthorised use, with the outcome depending on the specific work and the applicable national law.

    Challenges to protecting traditional Indian crafts

    1. Registration protects the product, not the technique: A GI attaches to a named good from a defined region, so the underlying skill can be lifted and applied to an entirely different product without touching the registration. Eg. Kutch embroidery holds a GI registration, while the hook embroidery technique itself is the subject of no registration anywhere.
      The Fix: Create a distinct registry of craft techniques and their custodial communities, separate from the goods based GI register.
    2. A registration does not by itself produce a case: Even a registered GI leaves a community facing an appropriation that is answered through public statements rather than through infringement proceedings. Eg. Kolhapuri chappals hold a GI registration and the dispute over the Prada design still played out as a controversy rather than as litigation.
      The Fix: Fund a standing legal cell for registered GI proprietors to issue notices and file proceedings without the community bearing the cost.
    3. Indian registration has no extraterritorial reach: A GI on the Indian register does not bind a design house abroad unless the name is separately protected in that jurisdiction. Eg. The proprietor of the Darjeeling tea mark has had to pursue separate proceedings in multiple foreign jurisdictions to stop misuse of the name.
      The Fix: Prioritise foreign registration of the highest value craft GIs in the European Union, the United States and Japan through the existing trade negotiation channels.
    4. Authorised user registration is thin: The right to sue lies with the registered proprietor and registered authorised users, and most working artisans are never entered on that register. Eg. A GI is typically registered in the name of a board, society or association rather than of the artisans practising the craft.
      The Fix: Make authorised user enrolment part of the same application process as the GI registration itself, with no separate fee for individual artisans.
    5. India’s documentation infrastructure covers medicine, not crafts: The country’s defensive documentation was built for traditional medicine and has no equivalent for craft motifs and techniques. Eg. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library documents Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga formulations for examiners at foreign patent offices.
      The Fix: Extend the same model to a craft motif and technique database accessible to design registries and customs authorities abroad.

    Conclusion

    The appropriation question is usually argued as one of etiquette, and it is a question of legal architecture. What cannot both hold is a system that vests rights in identifiable owners within fixed territories and a body of craft knowledge that has neither an owner nor a border, and no amount of enforcement will reconcile the two without a category built for collective custodianship. The practical middle ground being argued for is narrow and achievable: documented provenance, attribution, and a share in the value, without converting a living practice into a protected relic. What to watch is whether the WIPO negotiation on traditional cultural expressions produces a binding instrument on the model of its 2024 treaty on genetic resources, since that is the only forum in which a right created in India could acquire effect in the markets where the copying happens.

    Back2Basics: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

    1. What it is: WIPO is the United Nations specialised agency for intellectual property, providing the forum in which international intellectual property treaties are negotiated and administered.
    2. When it was formed: It was established by the WIPO Convention signed at Stockholm in 1967, which entered into force in 1970, and it became a specialised agency of the United Nations in 1974.
    3. Where it sits: Its headquarters is at Geneva, Switzerland, and its membership covers the large majority of states, India included.
    4. What it runs: It administers the principal international treaties on copyright, patents, trademarks and designs, and operates global registration systems for patents, trademarks and industrial designs.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “Which of the following has/have been accorded ‘Geographical Indication’ status? (1) Banaras Brocades and Sarees (2) Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma (3) Tirupathi Laddu Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3”

  • Missing measure in India’s magnet mission

    Why in the News

    China’s tight export controls on rare earth magnets and materials, imposed in April 2025, exposed the dependence of global industrial value chains on a single supplier and the limits of what importing countries know about their own exposure. India has responded by strengthening its critical minerals and rare earth strategy through the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), overseas mineral acquisitions, expanded geological exploration and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. India’s primary vulnerability does not stem from a shortage of critical minerals. It lies in the absence of a comprehensive framework able to pinpoint where strategic technological dependence is cultivated, accumulated and propagated along the permanent magnet value chain. The tension is that the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) puts the domestic permanent magnet market at about Rs 750 crore while international trade statistics record import values several times larger than that entire reported market.

    What is a high performance permanent magnet?

    1. About: A permanent magnet holds its magnetic field without a continuous electric current, which is what allows a motor or a generator to convert energy without an external magnetising supply.
    2. The main types: Ferrite, Alnico and Samarium Cobalt magnets continue to serve important industrial applications, each at a different level of strength and temperature tolerance.
    3. Why NdFeB dominates: Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) magnets have become the backbone of the energy transition and advanced manufacturing, because no other commercially available permanent magnet combines comparable magnetic strength with such a high ratio of power to weight.
    4. Where they sit in the economy: Electric vehicle motors, semiconductor fabrication facilities and precision manufacturing machinery all depend on the high performance permanent magnet as a component.

    Where does India’s magnet economy go statistically missing?

    1. The reported market: The Annual Survey of Industries estimates the domestic permanent magnet market at around Rs 750 crore.
    2. The contradiction in the trade data: International trade statistics indicate import values several times larger than that entire reported domestic market.
    3. Possible explanations: The gap may reflect differences in statistical coverage, differences in industrial classification, or supply chain accounting that records the magnet only inside a finished assembly.
    4. What the gap costs policy: Policymakers cannot confidently explain where these magnets enter the economy or how they move through it, so part of the permanent magnet economy exists without being visible in statistics.
    5. A partial statistical picture overall: India’s statistical system provides only a partial account of what is mined, what is imported and what is manufactured.

    Why does the stage structure of the value chain matter?

    1. The upstream sequence: Geological exploration leads to mining, mining feeds mineral processing, and processing enables chemical separation.
    2. The downstream sequence: Separation produces oxides, which are refined into metals, transformed into alloys, engineered into magnetic materials and finally manufactured into finished magnets.
    3. Each stage is a different capability: Every stage demands different scientific knowledge, different industrial capability and a different level of technological maturity.
    4. Where the real question sits: The strategic question is not whether India possesses rare earth resources or whether imports from China can be reduced, it is what happens in between.
    5. Capability without a map of it: India has built capabilities across several stages of magnet manufacturing, and it still lacks a systematic way of identifying where those capabilities are globally competitive, where critical gaps persist, and how dependence accumulates across production stages.

    Can a techno economic map close the dependence gap?

    1. What the framework is: An Integrated Techno Economic Mapping (ITEM) framework brings engineering measurement together with economic measurement to show how a permanent magnet is built, from minerals in the ground to the finished products that use them.
    2. The missing toolkit: Such a framework is at present a missing piece in India’s industrial policy toolkit.
    3. What it would identify: It would show where industrial capability should be built, where technological partnerships become essential, and where domestic investment would yield the greatest strategic return.
    4. Why resources alone are not security: A country may secure mineral resources and still remain dependent if it lacks processing and manufacturing capability, which makes closing the measurement gap an industrial imperative rather than an academic exercise.

    Challenges to India’s rare earth magnet push

    1. Separation and refining is the bottleneck, not ore: Rare earth oxides have to be separated into individual elements before they can be alloyed, and that is the stage at which India has almost no commercial capacity. Eg. China processes over 90% of the world’s rare earths, which is what gives an export control its effect regardless of where the ore was mined.
      The Fix: Tie incentives under the rare earth permanent magnet scheme to certified output at the separation and alloying stages rather than to installed magnet capacity.
    2. Monazite is locked into atomic energy regulation: India’s principal rare earth bearing sand carries thorium, so its processing sits under atomic energy control rather than under ordinary mining law. Eg. Monazite is a prescribed substance under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and Indian Rare Earths Limited handles its processing.
      The Fix: Create a licensed private participation route for the non thorium fraction of monazite with a defined custody protocol for the thorium residue.
    3. Heavy rare earths decide magnet grade and India holds few: Dysprosium and terbium are what let an NdFeB magnet hold its field at motor operating temperatures, and India’s deposits are weighted toward the light rare earths. Eg. Indian monazite is rich in cerium, lanthanum and neodymium rather than in dysprosium.
      The Fix: Secure heavy rare earth offtake through overseas acquisition and make a share of every contract conditional on processing inside India.
    4. Recycling has no separated feedstock stream: A magnet recovered from an end of life motor or wind turbine is the one domestic source needing no mining, and no collection channel separates it out. Eg. The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 set extended producer responsibility targets by weight rather than by recovered critical material.
      The Fix: Add a material specific recovery target for rare earth magnets, reported separately from bulk electronic waste tonnage.
    5. Exploration data is too shallow to auction on: A block offered without G1 or G2 level exploration cannot be priced by a bidder, so auctions clear thinly or not at all. Eg. Only about 48% of the mineral blocks auctioned between 2020 and 2023 were sold.
      The Fix: Fund state exploration to G2 level before a critical mineral block is offered, so an auction transfers a defined resource rather than a prospect.

    Conclusion

    India’s rare earth problem is being treated as a supply problem when it is in the first instance a visibility problem. Securing ore, acquiring assets abroad and incentivising magnet capacity all assume the state already knows which stage of the chain its dependence sits at, and no existing statistical instrument tells it. What to watch is whether the next revision of the mission’s monitoring framework records capability stage by stage from ore to finished magnet, because until it does, spending is allocated against a chain the state can describe at both ends and not in the middle.

    Critical Minerals in India

    1. Definition: Critical minerals are minerals essential to a country’s economic development and national security, whose limited availability or concentrated extraction and processing in a few locations can disrupt critical industries.
    2. India’s list: India has identified 30 critical minerals through a three stage assessment, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements, titanium, molybdenum and vanadium.
    3. Selection parameters: The list was drawn on resource availability, import dependency and significance for future technologies, clean energy and agriculture.
    4. Where the demand originates: Solar photovoltaic cells rely on silicon, tellurium, indium and gallium, wind turbines use neodymium and dysprosium, and electric vehicle batteries depend on lithium, nickel and cobalt.

    Government Initiatives for Critical Minerals

    1. Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Manufacturing Scheme, 2025: A scheme with an outlay of Rs 7,280 crore to establish 6,000 tonnes per annum of integrated rare earth permanent magnet capacity for electric vehicles, renewables, aerospace and defence.
    2. Auction of critical mineral blocks: By May 2025, 34 critical and strategic mineral blocks had been auctioned across five tranches, including India’s first potash block.
    3. Royalty rationalisation: Royalty rates for lithium, niobium and rare earth elements were approved in 2023 under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and rates for twelve further critical minerals were specified in 2024, completing rationalisation for all twenty four strategic minerals.
    4. Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL): This joint venture of three public sector undertakings acquires critical mineral assets abroad, with lithium and cobalt as its stated priorities.

    Back2Basics: National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM)

    1. Ministry and launch: The mission is run by the Ministry of Mines, was announced in the Union Budget for 2024 to 2025 and was launched in 2025 with an outlay of about Rs 16,300 crore.
    2. Scope: It covers the entire value chain, from mineral exploration and mining through beneficiation and processing to recovery from end of life products.
    3. Instruments: It offers financial incentives for exploration, creates a fast track regulatory approval route for critical mineral mining projects, and supports the setting up of mineral processing parks.
    4. Strategic reserve: It provides for building a national stockpile of critical minerals as a buffer against an export restriction by a dominant supplier.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “Which of the following statements about Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and Critical Minerals is/are correct? 1. Modern technological innovations including Artificial Intelligence, robotics and space exploration extensively utilise Rare Earth Elements (REEs). 2. China has the highest share in mining of REEs followed by India. 3. The Government of India launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in 2025 to establish a robust framework for self-reliance in the critical mineral sector. 4. Rare Earth Elements are a set of 13 metallic elements. Select the answer using the code given below: (a) 1 and 3 only (b) 3 only (c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2 and 4”

  • How melting glaciers could ‘put 20% of GDP at risk’

    Why in the News

    A new assessment of the Himalayas has put a monetary value on India’s dependence on the mountain range, estimating that Rs 64.8 lakh crore, or 21.5% of India’s FY24 GDP, rests on Himalayan water and Himalayan economies. The report, ‘A resilient Himalaya: protecting a region at risk and securing future prosperity’, follows the Nepal floods that placed the warming Himalayas under public attention. It converts glacier retreat from an environmental concern into a measurable macroeconomic exposure. The tension it exposes is one of timing. Meltwater flows are rising now and are expected to peak around the middle of this century before declining, while the one driver India can act on quickly, black carbon, is being tackled unevenly across States.

    What is the ‘A resilient Himalaya’ report?

    1. Compiling body: The report was compiled by the consultancy Systemiq, in partnership with the Integrated Mountain Initiative.
    2. Supporting institutions: It was supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal, and the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Uttarakhand.
    3. Core estimate: It places Rs 64.8 lakh crore, equal to 21.5% of India’s FY24 GDP, as dependent on the Himalayas.

    How was the 20% of GDP figure arrived at?

    1. Direct layer: The Gross State Domestic Product of the Himalayan States is counted in full as Himalaya dependent output.
    2. Indirect layer: Downstream agriculture, manufacturing, hydropower and services reliant on Himalayan fed rivers and on groundwater recharge are added. Rain fed production is expressly excluded from this layer.
    3. Induced layer: Supply chain and wage spending effects are counted, such as tractors sold from southern States into the Indo Gangetic Plains, and wages spent on food and services.

    Why does glacier retreat translate into economic risk?

    1. Three river systems: The Himalayas feed the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra systems, which support agriculture, cities and industry downstream.
    2. Named dependent economies: The report ties these flows to wheat and rice across the Indo Gangetic plain, tea in Assam and Bengal, hydropower in the Northeast, and pilgrimage economies in downstream towns.
    3. Disaster concentration: The Himalayas account for 18% of India’s land but roughly 35% of its disasters, making them a standing disaster hotspot rather than an occasional one.
    4. The reconstruction trap: Disasters create food and water insecurity, disrupt supply chains, displace people and raise macroeconomic and sovereign debt pressure. Reconstruction spending then leaves less money available for building future resilience.

    Why do meltwater flows rise before they fall?

    1. Glaciers as storage: Glaciers hold water as ice and release meltwater into rivers, particularly during the dry season when rainfall contributes least.
    2. Peak Water: Himalayan river basins are expected to reach ‘Peak Water’ around the middle of this century, the point at which glacier meltwater reaches its maximum.
    3. The decline after the peak: Flows begin to fall after that point as the ice reserve shrinks, so today’s higher flows are not a durable supply.

    Why is black carbon the driver India can act on fastest?

    1. What black carbon is: Black carbon is soot produced by incomplete combustion, and unlike global warming as a whole it is a pollutant India can act on quickly on its own.
    2. The snow darkening effect: When black carbon lands on snow it darkens the surface, so the snow absorbs more sunlight instead of reflecting it. Modelling shows this adds about 40 watts per square metre of surface heating in the spring season across the Himalaya.
    3. Zigzag kiln technology: Converting brick kilns to zigzag firing, a method that burns fuel more efficiently, cuts black carbon and particulate emissions by roughly 70% and fuel use by 20% to 30%.
    4. Uneven adoption: Punjab and Haryana have completed the switch to zigzag kilns. Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest brick producer, is at only 56%, and the rest of India runs on traditional technology.
    5. Kilns are not the whole story: Real progress requires kilns, cookstoves, transport and crop residue burning to be tackled together rather than one source at a time.

    Challenges to securing the Himalayan economy

    1. Transboundary river dependence: The three river systems the estimate rests on originate outside India in whole or in part, so flow security is not a purely domestic policy variable. Eg. The Indus system is governed by a treaty arrangement with Pakistan, and the Brahmaputra rises in Tibet where upstream storage decisions are not disclosed to India.
      The Fix: Build hydrological data sharing into existing basin level dialogues so flow changes are detected upstream rather than inferred from downstream damage.
    2. Gaps in glacier monitoring: India monitors only a small fraction of its glaciers on the ground, so mass balance estimates rest heavily on modelling. Eg. Glacier and lake monitoring shortfalls were flagged after the February 2021 Chamoli disaster in Uttarakhand.
      The Fix: Expand automated weather station and mass balance networks across benchmark glaciers in each Himalayan basin.
    3. Glacial lake outburst risk: Warming creates and expands moraine dammed lakes whose failure sends a flood wave downstream with little warning time. Eg. The October 2023 South Lhonak lake outburst in Sikkim destroyed the Teesta III hydropower project at Chungthang.
      The Fix: Attach early warning instrumentation and drawdown works to every high risk lake identified in the national expansion inventory.
    4. Construction in a fragile zone: Hydropower, highway and tunnel projects add load and cut slopes in terrain that is already seismically active and steep. Eg. Land subsidence in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, in January 2023 forced the evacuation of hundreds of households.
      The Fix: Make cumulative basin level impact assessment, rather than project by project clearance, the condition for approving new infrastructure in the Himalayan States.
    5. Fiscal asymmetry between hill and plain States: Himalayan States carry the cost of protecting catchments while the economic benefit accrues largely downstream. Eg. Forest cover in the Himalayan States supports irrigation and power generation in the plains without a matching transfer for that service.
      The Fix: Widen ecological and forest cover weightage in Finance Commission devolution so catchment protection is financed rather than assumed.

    Conclusion

    The estimate changes the category of the problem rather than the facts of it. A mountain range treated as an environmental subject now carries a fifth of national output as a stated exposure, which places it inside fiscal and investment planning rather than only inside climate policy. Two things cannot both hold: flows rising toward a mid century peak are being planned against as though they were permanent, while the ice reserve that produces them is shrinking. The near term marker is whether brick kiln conversion moves beyond the two States that have completed it.

    Back2Basics: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

    1. Nature: An intergovernmental knowledge and learning centre for the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.
    2. Establishment and headquarters: Founded in 1983, with its headquarters at Kathmandu, Nepal.
    3. Membership: Its eight regional member countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
    4. Mandate: It supports mountain research, cryosphere monitoring and transboundary cooperation across the Hindu Kush Himalaya.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2020, GS1, 10] How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far-reaching impact on the water resources of India? (हिमालय के हिमनदों के पिघलने का भारत के जल-संसाधनों पर किस प्रकार दूरगामी प्रभाव होगा ?)”

  • Global Gender Gap Index 2026

    Global Gender Gap Index 2026

    Why in the News?

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Global Gender Gap Index 2026, ranking 145 economies across four dimensions. India retained its 131st position. Iceland remained at the top.

    Key Findings

    • India’s overall gender parity: 64.5%
    • Global average: 69.2%
    • India has closed 4.3 percentage points of its gender gap since 2006.
    • Globally, 69.2% of the gender gap has been closed.
    • Iceland: 1st, with 93% of its gender gap closed.
    • Top three:
      • Iceland
      • Finland
      • Norway
    • Chad: lowest-ranked country.
    • Iran and Pakistan were also among the bottom three.

    Four Dimensions of the Index

    1. Economic Participation and Opportunity

    India’s parity score: 41.2%

    • Improved by 0.5 percentage points from the previous edition.
    • Still 3.5 percentage points below India’s best score in 2013.
    • Professional and technical workers: parity increased from 26.6% in 2006 to 49.9% in 2026.
    • Legislators, senior officials and managers: 13.1% parity.
    • Labour-force participation parity: 44.1%.

    2. Educational Attainment

    • India recorded 96.6% parity.
    • Declined by 0.5 percentage points from the previous year.
    • Educational gains have been a major contributor to India’s improvement since 2006.

    3. Health and Survival

    • India’s parity score: 95.6%.
    • Sex ratio at birth remained nearly one percentage point lower than in 2006.

    4. Political Empowerment

    • India’s highest-performing subindex.
    • 24.5% of the gender gap closed.
    • Global rank: 67th.
    • Parliament: 16.1% of the gender gap closed in 2026.
    • Ministerial level: 5.9%, compared with 3.5% in 2006.
    • India’s ministerial parity had reached 30% in 2019, before declining.

    Important Global Observations

    • Southern Asia was the lowest-scoring region in Economic Participation and Opportunity.
    • Globally, political empowerment recorded the largest gains since 2006, but has experienced a reversal since 2016.
    • Women account for 19.1% of CEO roles globally.
    • Women remain underrepresented in Artificial Intelligence (AI), accounting for fewer than one in five AI engineers.
    • Australia entered the global top 10 for the first time.
    • Iceland was the only country to cross 90% parity, at 93%.

    Important Full Forms

    • WEF: World Economic Forum
    • AI: Artificial Intelligence
    • CEO: Chief Executive Officer

    Prelims Quick Revision

    • Global Gender Gap Index: World Economic Forum
    • 2026 edition: 145 economies
    • India: 131st
    • Top: Iceland
    • India overall parity: 64.5%
    • Global parity: 69.2%
    • Four dimensions:
      1. Economic Participation and Opportunity
      2. Educational Attainment
      3. Health and Survival
      4. Political Empowerment
    • India’s highest subindex: Political Empowerment
    • India’s Economic Participation parity: 41.2%
    • India’s Educational Attainment parity: 96.6%
    • India’s Health and Survival parity: 95.6%
    • Political Empowerment: 24.5% gap closed
  • PMAY-U: Housing, Inclusion and Empowerment

    PMAY-U: Housing, Inclusion and Empowerment

    Why in the News?

    The Ministry highlighted the achievements of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) and the progress of PMAY-U 2.0, aimed at achieving Housing for All in urban areas. PMAY-U was launched in June 2015, while PMAY-U 2.0 was launched in September 2024.

    Key Highlights

    PMAY-U

    • Provides all-weather pucca houses with basic civic amenities to eligible urban households.
    • Focuses on:
      • Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)
      • Low Income Groups (LIG)
      • Middle Income Groups (MIG)
      • Slum dwellers
    • Original mission period was up to March 2022, extended up to 30 September 2026 for completion of sanctioned projects.

    PMAY-U 2.0

    • Launched in September 2024.
    • Implementation period: 2024-2029.
    • Target: 1 crore additional urban poor and middle-class families.
    • Financial assistance: up to ₹2.50 lakh per unit.
    • Also includes affordable rental housing.

    Income Categories

    • EWS: Annual income up to ₹3 lakh
    • LIG: ₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh
    • MIG: ₹6 lakh to ₹9 lakh

    Four Verticals of PMAY-U 2.0

    1. Beneficiary-Led Construction (BLC)

    • Financial assistance up to ₹2.5 lakh.
    • For eligible EWS families.
    • Construction on own available land.
    • Maximum carpet area: 45 sq m.

    2. Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP)

    • Public/private agencies construct affordable houses.
    • Houses generally have 30-45 sq m carpet area.
    • Financial assistance up to ₹2.5 lakh per unit.

    3. Affordable Rental Housing (ARH)

    • Provides affordable rental accommodation.
    • Covers EWS and LIG beneficiaries, including:
      • Migrants
      • Homeless persons
      • Industrial workers
      • Working women
      • Construction workers
      • Street vendors
      • Rickshaw pullers
      • Contractual workers

    4. Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS)

    • Provides interest subsidy on eligible home loans.
    • Applicable to loans sanctioned and disbursed on or after 1 September 2024.
    • Covers EWS, LIG and MIG beneficiaries.

    Major Achievements

    As of 9 August 2026:

    • 1.25 crore houses sanctioned under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0.
    • More than 1 crore houses completed and delivered.
    • Under PMAY-U 2.0:
      • 18.38 lakh houses sanctioned
      • 14.40 lakh under BLC
      • 2.48 lakh under AHP
      • 1.36 lakh under ISS
      • 13,046 dwelling units under ARH
    • Around 1 crore houses among the 1.25 crore sanctioned were allotted to women, either in the name of the female head of household or through joint ownership.

    Inclusion and Empowerment

    PMAY-U promotes:

    • Women ownership/co-ownership of houses.
    • Housing access for:
      • Scheduled Castes (SCs)
      • Scheduled Tribes (STs)
      • Other Backward Classes (OBCs)
      • Minorities
      • Senior citizens
      • Persons with disabilities
      • Transgender persons

    Technology-enabled Implementation

    • Unified Web Portal: application, processing, tracking and fund disbursement.
    • PMAY-U Dashboard: real-time monitoring of key indicators.
    • Geo-tagging: tracks houses through five stages:
      1. Grounding
      2. Foundation
      3. Superstructure
      4. Finishing and external development
      5. Completion
    • Technology Sub-Mission (TSM): promotes modern and disaster-resilient construction technologies.
    • Technology and Innovation Sub-Mission (TISM): promotes innovative, green and climate-responsive housing.
    • Technology Innovation Grant (TIG): supports innovative technologies in AHP projects.

    Prelims Quick Revision

    • PMAY-U: launched in June 2015.
    • PMAY-U 2.0: launched in September 2024.
    • PMAY-U 2.0 period: 2024-2029.
    • Target: 1 crore additional families.
    • Four verticals: BLC, AHP, ARH, ISS.
    • PMAY-U 2.0 covers EWS, LIG and MIG.
    • ARH focuses on rental housing, including migrants and working women.
    • ISS relates to home-loan interest subsidy.
    • Technology tools include geo-tagging, dashboards and unified digital platforms.

  • ‘Census Town’ definition is outdated: Ministry to panel

    Why in the News

    The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs that the four decade old criteria used to classify Census Towns cannot capture the actual scale of urbanisation in India. The Ministry deposed before the panel on a draft report titled “Census Criteria for Defining Urban Areas”. It had already flagged the same objections to the Registrar General of India in a communication in February 2024. The Registrar General has decided to continue with the existing definition, holding that it is too late to alter the framework for Census 2027, so the next Census will measure a transformed settlement pattern with a test written in 1981.

    What is a Census Town?

    1. The three part test: A Census Town is a village with a minimum population of 5,000, at least 75% of the male working population engaged in non agricultural pursuits, and a population density of at least 400 persons per square kilometre.
    2. It is a statistical category, not a legal one: A settlement meeting the test is counted as urban by the Census while continuing to be governed as a village, since municipal status is conferred separately by the State.
    3. Unchanged since 1981: The definition has not been revised in four decades, so every intervening Census has applied the same thresholds.

    What does the Ministry say is wrong with the 1981 test?

    1. Male bias: Only the male working population is used as a parameter to define a town, and the Ministry has said female workforce participation should also be used.
    2. Uniform national thresholds: A single population and density threshold applied across the country disadvantages hilly and northeastern States, where settlement sizes and densities differ structurally.
    3. Density measured on the wrong area: Density is calculated using administrative boundaries rather than built-up areas, which misclassifies settlements.
    4. The rural and urban binary: The binary classification overlooks peri-urban settlements and growth corridors that function as urban areas without qualifying as one.
    5. Stale input data: The current system works off data from the previous Census, which produces both exclusion and inclusion errors.

    What has the Ministry proposed instead?

    1. Satellite imagery: Greater use of imagery would identify built-up extent directly rather than inferring it from administrative units.
    2. A ‘transitional areas’ category: A third category between rural and urban would capture rapidly urbanising regions that neither label fits.
    3. Female workforce participation as a parameter: Adding it to the non farm employment test would measure the settlement’s economy rather than half of its workforce.

    How much urbanisation does the current definition miss?

    1. The official count: Census 2011 recorded a total population of 121 crore, of which about 83.3 crore or 68.8% lived in rural areas and 37.7 crore or 31.2% in urban areas.
    2. The satellite based estimate: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), the advisory body reporting to the Prime Minister on economic policy, argues that India’s urbanisation level could have been as high as 63% in 2015 on satellite data.
    3. The size of the gap: The satellite based figure is more than double the official Census 2011 estimate, which is the measure of what the definition is failing to register.

    Why will Census 2027 still use the old framework?

    1. The Registrar General’s position: The framework cannot be altered at this stage of preparation for Census 2027.
    2. Field architecture is already built on it: Enumeration blocks, boundaries, enumerator training and field deployment all depend on the rural and urban classification being finalised in advance.
    3. The consequence: The classification produced by Census 2027 will be the base for scheme eligibility and urban planning through the following decade.

    Challenges to reforming the Census Town definition

    1. Classification drives governance and finance: A settlement counted as urban by the Census keeps rural governance and stays outside municipal planning and finance powers. Eg. Most Census Towns remain under panchayats and outside municipal law.
      The Fix: Tie any ‘transitional areas’ category to a statutory route for a State decision on municipal status under Article 243Q.
    2. Decadal measurement lag: A test applied once every ten years classifies settlements long after they have urbanised. Eg. Census 2027 will apply thresholds last revised in 1981.
      The Fix: Update classification against annual satellite built-up area data between Censuses rather than only at enumeration.
    3. Misclassification misdirects money: Grant devolution and scheme eligibility follow the rural or urban label, so a wrong label sends the wrong programme to a settlement. Eg. The Swachh Bharat Mission runs separate rural and urban verticals with different funding norms.
      The Fix: Allow a settlement classified as transitional to draw on both rural and urban scheme windows for one funding cycle.
    4. Satellite data measures construction, not employment: Built-up extent records buildings and cannot by itself establish the non farm economic activity the definition is meant to test. Eg. Warehousing clusters and plotted layouts register as built-up while the surrounding workforce stays agricultural.
      The Fix: Combine built-up area with workforce and night lights data rather than substituting one indicator for another.
    5. States control the next step: Creating a municipality is a State decision, and States carry fiscal and political reasons to leave urbanised settlements classified as villages. Eg. Kerala and West Bengal account for a large share of Census Towns still governed by panchayats.
      The Fix: Make a Census Town classification trigger a time bound State decision on municipal status with reasons recorded.

    Conclusion

    The Ministry and the Registrar General are not disagreeing about the facts of urbanisation. They are disagreeing about whether a measurement framework can be changed once field preparation has begun. That conflict is now settled in favour of continuity, and it settles the terms on which India will be counted as urban for another decade. The thing to watch is whether the Standing Committee’s final report converts the Ministry’s objections into a dated mandate for the Census after this one, since an objection recorded and not scheduled expires with the report.

    Back2Basics

    1. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India: An office under the Ministry of Home Affairs, created in 1949, that conducts the decennial Census.
    2. Other functions: It maintains the Civil Registration System for births and deaths and runs the Sample Registration System, the source of India’s birth, death and infant mortality rate estimates.
    3. Statutory basis: The Census is conducted under the Census Act, 1948, which makes furnishing information compulsory and individual records confidential.
    4. Language data: The office also compiles the linguistic survey and mother tongue returns used to classify scheduled and non scheduled languages.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “Which of the following are among the million-plus cities in India on the basis of data of the Census, 2001?”

  • Saratchandra Chattopadhyay: 150th Birth Anniversary

    Saratchandra Chattopadhyay: 150th Birth Anniversary

    Why in the News?

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Saratchandra Chattopadhyay on his 150th birth anniversary, highlighting his enduring contribution to Bengali literature and social consciousness.

    Who was Saratchandra Chattopadhyay?

    • Born: 15 September 1876, Debanandapur, Bengal Presidency
    • Died: 16 January 1938
    • One of the most widely read Bengali novelists and short-story writers.
    • His simple, emotionally powerful writing brought the lives of ordinary people, women and socially marginalised groups into mainstream literature.
    • His works have been translated into Indian and foreign languages, giving him a wider literary influence.

    Literary & Social Significance

    1. Social realism

    • Portrayed social inequalities, caste and class distinctions, poverty and conservative social practices.
    • Particularly captured the complexities of Bengal’s rural and semi-urban society.

    2. Women’s emancipation

    • Female characters often challenge restrictive social norms.
    • Explored issues such as widowhood, child marriage, patriarchy, education and women’s autonomy.
    • Women are not merely passive characters but often represent moral agency and resistance to social conventions.

    3. Nationalism

    • His writings reflected the intellectual and emotional atmosphere of the Indian nationalist movement.
    • Pather Dabi is particularly associated with anti-colonial nationalism and revolutionary politics.

    4. Language and accessibility

    • Used relatively simple, colloquial Bengali, making literature accessible to a broad readership.
    • Helped bridge the gap between elite literary culture and ordinary readers.
    WorkUPSC Relevance
    DevdasSocial conventions, class and emotional conflict
    ParineetaGender, marriage and social hierarchy
    Biraj BauWomen’s condition and patriarchy
    SrikantaSocial conventions, individual freedom and society
    CharitraheenGender morality and social hypocrisy
    Pather DabiNationalism, colonialism and revolutionary politics
    GrihadahaMarriage, relationships and social norms

    [2020] With reference to the book ‘Desher Katha’ (1904) written during the freedom struggle, consider the following statements:
    1.It warned against the Colonial State’s “hypnotic conquest of the mind,” explaining how the British successfully colonized the Indian psyche.
    2.It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays, folk songs, and the “Yatras” in Bengal.
    3.The use of the word ‘desh’ by Deuskar was specifically meant to refer only to the region of Bengal and its linguistic identity.
    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    [A] 1 and 2 only

    [B] 2 and 3 only

    [C] 1 and 3 only

    [D] 1, 2, and 3

  • Pressure on food prices: El Nino effect, geopolitical tensions / Dip in fertiliser sales warning signal

    Pressure on food prices: El Nino effect, geopolitical tensions / Dip in fertiliser sales warning signal

    Why in the News

    The southwest monsoon has finished 14.7 per cent below the long period average (LPA) as on 14 September, with 24 of India’s 36 meteorological subdivisions more than 10 per cent deficient. The shortfall tracks a strengthening El Nino, which weakened the easterly trade winds in August and cut the transport of moisture laden air towards the subcontinent. Kharif sowing has held up at 1,096.5 lakh hectares, only 1.4 per cent below the same point last year. Fertiliser sales and wholesale mandi prices point the other way. The tension is between a sowing figure that reads as normal and the input and price data that point to lower yields, arriving at the same moment as a turn upward in world food prices.

    What is El Nino?

    1. El Nino: It is an abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru, which shifts global atmospheric circulation for several seasons at a time.
    2. Effect on the Indian monsoon: It weakens the easterly trade winds that carry moisture laden air from east to west towards the subcontinent, so rainfall systems that do form deliver less rain than their number suggests.
    3. Temperature effect: El Nino suppresses rainfall over India and also raises temperatures, which is why its consequences run past the monsoon into the winter crop season.
    4. Low pressure system (LPS): It is the rain bearing system of the monsoon, formed when warm moist air near the ground rises, cools and condenses into cloud.

    How did the monsoon actually behave month by month?

    1. June: Not a single low pressure system formed, against a monthly average of three systems covering about 11 days. All India rainfall was 38 per cent below the LPA for the month.
    2. July: Four systems formed, close to the climatological average, and each persisted longer than usual. Total LPS days reached 24 against an average of 13.56, and rainfall came in 1 per cent above the LPA.
    3. August: Six systems formed against a normal of 5.38, and LPS days reached 26 against a normal of 16.3. Rainfall still recorded a 16.3 per cent deficit, because weakened easterly trade winds cut moisture transport.
    4. Season and spatial spread: Cumulative rainfall to 14 September was 14.7 per cent below the LPA, with 24 of 36 subdivisions over 10 per cent deficient. The southern States, along with Marathwada and Vidarbha in Maharashtra, were worst affected.

    Why does sowing acreage understate the damage?

    1. Kharif acreage: Area sown under kharif crops was 1,096.5 lakh hectares as of 11 September, against 1,112.5 lakh hectares for the same period of 2025, a gap of only 1.4 per cent.
    2. Fertiliser sales: Sales in April to July 2026 fell across di ammonium phosphate (25.6 to 24.4 lakh tonnes), muriate of potash (7 to 5.9 lakh tonnes) and complex fertilisers (50 to 43 lakh tonnes) against the same months of 2025. Only single super phosphate rose, from 20 to 20.2 lakh tonnes.
    3. Urea: Sales fell 6.6 per cent despite policy interventions to secure natural gas for domestic production and to secure imports through the West Asia supply shocks.
    4. Mandi prices: Maize at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh is around Rs 2,625 a quintal against Rs 2,165 a year ago. Arhar at Akola is Rs 8,650 against Rs 6,200 and soyabean at Dewas Rs 6,150 against Rs 4,300.
    5. Output forecasts: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has forecast India’s rice output falling to 147 million tonnes from an all time high of 154 million tonnes, and maize to 50 million tonnes from 55.1 million tonnes.
    6. The temporal and spatial pattern: Extended dry spells interspersed with heavy downpours, with rain largely confined to Odisha, Chhattisgarh, eastern Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, translates into lower yields rather than into unsown land.

    What does the El Nino outlook mean for the rabi season?

    1. Current state: El Nino is in a strong state, with average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific roughly 1.8 degrees Celsius above normal.
    2. Projection: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects a 90 per cent plus chance of a very strong event, meaning sea surface temperatures more than 2 degrees Celsius above normal, running from September through January.
    3. Decay path: The event is projected to stay strong, above 1.5 degrees Celsius, until March, and weak to moderate, 0.5 to 1.5 degrees Celsius, until May.
    4. Crops at risk: A short and warm winter would hit the rabi crop, from wheat, rapeseed mustard, chana, masoor and matar to potato, onion, garlic, jeera, saunf and dhaniya.

    Why are world food prices turning up now?

    1. The buffer that held: The West Asia conflict produced no dramatic spike in world food prices, unlike Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, because back to back bumper crops in 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 left ample stocks of wheat, rice, maize, sugar, soyabean, rapeseed and palm oil.
    2. The index: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) food price index, a weighted average of world prices of a basket of food commodities against a 2014 to 2016 base value of 100, stood at 133.3 points in August, the highest since November 2022 and below the all time high of 160.2 points in March 2022.
    3. Where the pressure sits: The vegetable oil index was the highest since June 2022 and the cereal index edged to a 27 month high.
    4. Vegetable oils: Landed Mumbai prices of imported crude palm, soyabean and sunflower oil are $1,285, $1,300 and $1,450 per tonne, against September 2025 averages of $1,164, $1,182 and $1,293.
    5. Cereals: Wheat export prices firmed over the past year from $228 to $262 per tonne for Argentina, $226 to $290 for the European Union, $251 to $319 for Australia and $235 to $354 for the United States. Corn from Argentina and Brazil is exported at $219 and $238 against $200 and $210 a year ago.
    6. The direction of travel: A running down of stocks, disrupted trade logistics from escalating tensions in West Asia and Russia Ukraine, and a strengthening El Nino all push world prices the same way.

    Challenges to India’s food price management under El Nino

    1. Import dependence in edible oils: India imports the bulk of its vegetable oil, so a world price move passes into domestic retail prices within weeks regardless of the domestic harvest. Eg. Landed Mumbai prices of crude palm, soyabean and sunflower oil are all above their September 2025 averages.
      The Fix: Tie import duty changes to a stated trigger price rather than announcing them after the retail price has already moved.
    2. Procurement concentrated in two crops: Assured purchase at the support price operates at scale for wheat and rice, so a pulse or oilseed grower carries the full price risk of a bad season. Eg. Pulse and oilseed prices at Akola and Dewas moved sharply this year with no procurement floor doing the work.
      The Fix: Extend physical procurement capacity to pulses and oilseeds in the deficit districts rather than relying on an announced floor alone.
    3. Input withdrawal is invisible in acreage data: A farmer who sows but cuts fertiliser use produces a yield shortfall that no sowing statistic records until harvest. Eg. Kharif area was 1.4 per cent below last year while fertiliser sales fell across every major category except single super phosphate.
      The Fix: Publish district level fertiliser offtake alongside the weekly sowing bulletin so the yield signal arrives before the harvest does.
    4. Irrigation cover decides the rabi outcome: The winter crop depends on stored soil moisture and reservoir levels built during the monsoon, which a deficient season does not deliver. Eg. The southern States, Marathwada and Vidarbha carried deficits above 10 per cent this season.
      The Fix: Sequence reservoir releases for the rabi sowing window in the deficient subdivisions rather than for the standing kharif crop alone.
    5. Buffer stocks cannot absorb a domestic and a world shock together: Releasing stock cools the domestic market only where the commodity is one the state actually holds. Eg. Duty free imports of up to 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar were allowed until 31 October after inventory fell to multi year lows.
      The Fix: Hold a standing calibrated import window for commodities with no domestic buffer, so the decision is not taken at the festival season peak.

    Conclusion

    Food price pressure this year is not a single monsoon question. A rainfall deficit, a pullback in purchased inputs and a turn in world prices are three separate pressures that have arrived together, and only the first of them ends with the season. The winter crop is where the remaining two will be counted, since the same ocean warming that suppressed the rains is projected to persist into the sowing window. The rabi sowing period is the next decision point, and input availability and reservoir cover in the deficient subdivisions are the markers to watch.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2014, GS1, 10 marks] Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?”

  • There is no such thing as a ‘UN map with borders’: UN Secretary-General

    Why in the News

    The United Nations Secretary General has stated that the United Nations has not published any map with borders and that it is not for the United Nations to define borders. The statement answers India’s objection to “anomalies” in a “Map of the World” published by UN Geospatial on 1 July and used during the consultation process for the “Correct the Map” resolution. That map showed the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir as a dotted line with an explanatory note attached, and omitted the Indian and Chinese “claim lines” in Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin that previous United Nations maps carried, with no note explaining the omission. India voted in favour of the resolution, which the United Nations General Assembly passed on 3 September to replace the Mercator map with maps following the “equal area” principle. The contest is that a map disowned as unofficial has stayed on the United Nations website and circulated as the artefact accompanying a resolution India supported.

    What is the “Correct the Map” resolution?

    1. Replacement of the Mercator map: The resolution, passed by the United Nations General Assembly on 3 September, seeks to replace the Mercator map with maps that follow the “equal area” principle.
    2. Distortion of landmass sizes: The Secretary General’s stated position is that there are distortions in the landmasses relative to their real sizes, that these come from power relations of the past, and that those distortions should be corrected.
    3. Scope of the resolution: The resolution is not a map, and the approval of a resolution in the General Assembly does not amount to the adoption of any cartographic depiction.

    What did the disputed map actually show?

    1. “Map of the World”, published 1 July: The artefact is titled the “Map of the World”, was published by UN Geospatial on 1 July, and was later taken up for discussion at the General Assembly.
    2. The Line of Control was marked and explained: The map showed the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir as a dotted line, with a note stating that the dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control agreed upon by India and Pakistan and that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.
    3. The claim lines were dropped without explanation: It depicted Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin without the Indian and Chinese “claim lines” that previous United Nations maps used, and carried no note explaining that omission.
    4. Continued hosting on the United Nations website: The map published by UN Geospatial has remained on the United Nations website.

    What is the United Nations position on maps and borders?

    1. No map with borders exists: The Secretary General’s position is that there is no such thing as a United Nations map with borders and that it is not for the United Nations to define borders.
    2. The artefact is attributed elsewhere: The map on the website is described as not an official United Nations map and as the contribution of a non governmental organisation.
    3. Indicative status of the depiction: The map is treated as indicative, with no definition by the United Nations of what borders should be.

    What position has India taken?

    1. The vote was on the principle: The Ministry of External Affairs stated on 8 September that India’s vote for the resolution was in support of the underlying principle of “equal area representation”.
    2. The map question was separated from the vote: The Ministry’s stated position is that the United Nations does not endorse any map and does not issue any map, and that maps may exist for reasons of consultation.
    3. The omission has been formally raised: The Ministry stated that India has taken note of the anomaly and is taking it up with the United Nations.

    Challenges in the depiction of disputed boundaries on international maps

    1. An unofficial map acquires official standing by association: A map circulated during a General Assembly process is read as carrying institutional authority whatever its disclaimer says. Eg. The “Map of the World” was used during the consultation process for a resolution and has remained on the United Nations website.
      The Fix: Require any cartographic material circulated in a General Assembly process to carry the producing entity’s name and the standard territorial disclaimer on the artefact itself.
    2. Disclaimers are applied inconsistently across disputes: Explaining one disputed line and silently dropping another creates an asymmetry that reads as a position. Eg. The same map annotated the Line of Control and carried no note on the omitted claim lines in Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.
      The Fix: Apply a single annotation standard to every disputed boundary on a map, so a line is either shown with its note or its absence is explained.
    3. Correction has no procedural route: A member state that objects to a depiction can raise it bilaterally with the Secretariat, and there is no mechanism that compels a revision or a withdrawal. Eg. India has taken note of the anomaly and is taking it up with the United Nations.
      The Fix: Create a published register of member state objections to circulated maps, with a stated time limit for the producing entity to respond.
    4. Domestic law and international depiction diverge: India’s own legal position on depicting its external boundaries binds publishers within India and has no effect on material produced abroad. Eg. Indian law requires the depiction of Indian territory as claimed, which the circulated map did not follow.
      The Fix: Route the objection through the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names and the regional cartographic conferences, where standards are set rather than only contested after publication.

    Conclusion

    The resolution and the map are two different objects and the Secretary General’s answer rests entirely on that separation. It resolves the legal question, since no cartographic depiction was adopted by anyone, and leaves the practical one open, because the artefact that dropped the claim lines is still hosted where a reader will find it. The status is that India’s vote stands on the equal area principle, the objection has been raised with the United Nations, and the map has not been altered. The marker to watch is whether UN Geospatial reissues the map with the claim line annotation restored or withdraws it from the website.

    Back2Basics: UN Geospatial

    1. UN Geospatial: UN Geospatial, formerly the United Nations Cartographic Section, is the Secretariat unit that produces maps and geospatial products for United Nations use.
    2. Map products supplied: It supplies general reference maps, maps for peace operations and thematic maps requested by United Nations bodies.
    3. The status of its maps: Its maps carry a disclaimer that the designations used and the presentation of material do not imply any official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
    4. Relevance to the disputed artefact: The artefact at issue was produced by this unit yet has been described as not an official United Nations map.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026] Which of the following with reference to Indian States is/are NOT correct? 1. Uttar Pradesh shares its boundary with the highest number of other Indian States. 2. Rajasthan shares the longest international border among all Indian States. 3. Sikkim is the only State that shares its boundary with just one other Indian State. (a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 (c) 2 and 3 (d) 3 only ANSWER: C”

  • El Nino to peak during Oct-Dec this year, says US climate agency

    Why in the News

    The current El Nino event will enter its peak phase during October to December this year and will prevail through the winter season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) puts the chance of the event intensifying further into the “very strong” category at greater than 90 per cent. Sea surface temperatures in the key Nino regions continued to rise through August and clocked readings of 1.8 to 3 degrees Celsius. On that trajectory the 2026 El Nino would be a historic event, the strongest ever recorded since 1950. The consequence is that a year of below normal rainfall and above normal temperature is now being forecast with confidence rather than flagged as a possibility.

    What is El Nino?

    1. El Nino: El Nino is a naturally occurring ocean and atmospheric phenomenon in which abnormal warming is recorded along the equatorial and central Pacific Ocean waters.
    2. What drives the warming: The easterly trade winds that normally push warm surface water towards the western Pacific weaken, so warm water spreads back eastward and suppresses the cold upwelling off South America.
    3. Global weather effects: El Nino conditions are linked to extreme weather across the globe, in the form of higher than average temperatures, rainfall or droughts.
    4. El Nino Southern Oscillation cycle: It is the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, whose cool phase is La Nina, and the cycle recurs irregularly rather than on a fixed calendar.

    What does the latest assessment actually record?

    1. The temperatures kept climbing: Sea surface temperatures continued to rise in August, and the key Nino regions clocked readings of 1.8 to 3 degrees Celsius.
    2. The index confirms acceleration: The latest Nino index, covering June through August, rose by 0.4 degrees Celsius over the May to July value, confirming a rapidly intensifying event.
    3. The category is expected to move up: NOAA puts the chance of intensification into the “very strong” category at greater than 90 per cent.
    4. The duration is not short: The event is expected to prevail through the winter season, beyond the October to December peak.
    5. Strongest event since 1950: The 2026 event would be the strongest recorded since 1950, which is the start of the comparable record.

    Challenges posed by a very strong El Nino

    1. The Indian monsoon weakens in most El Nino years: A warm eastern Pacific shifts the rising limb of the Walker circulation away from the Indian Ocean, which suppresses monsoon rainfall over India. Eg. The very strong event of 2015 and 2016 followed consecutive deficient monsoons in India in 2014 and 2015.
      The Fix: Trigger the contingency crop plans of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research at the forecast stage rather than after a rainfall deficit is confirmed, so short duration and drought tolerant seed reaches districts before sowing.
    2. Reservoir and groundwater stress follows the deficit by months: A weak monsoon empties storage that the following summer depends on, so the damage peaks long after the event is over. Eg. Southern States drawing on hydropower face the shortfall in the dry season that follows a deficient monsoon.
      The Fix: Set reservoir drawdown limits for the post monsoon season on the forecast rather than on the current storage level, so carryover is protected.
    3. Food price inflation moves with a small production shortfall: A modest fall in output of pulses, oilseeds and vegetables translates into a disproportionate price rise because those crops have thin buffer stocks. Eg. Pulses and edible oils are already import dependent, so a domestic shortfall is met at world prices.
      The Fix: Pre position import contracts for pulses and edible oils in the peak forecast window, so procurement is not made in a market that has already moved.
    4. Marine fisheries are disrupted by the same warming: Suppressed upwelling cuts nutrient supply and moves fish stocks, which hits coastal livelihoods that carry no crop insurance equivalent. Eg. The collapse of the Peruvian anchoveta catch is the classic documented El Nino fishery effect.
      The Fix: Extend forecast linked advisories and lean season support to registered marine fishers on the same basis as agricultural advisories.
    5. A strong event raises the global temperature record itself: El Nino releases ocean heat into the atmosphere, so the warmest years on record cluster in El Nino years and compound the underlying warming trend. Eg. Heat released during a strong event is added on top of the long term rise rather than substituting for it.
      The Fix: Issue heat action plan activation thresholds for the following summer at the time of the peak forecast, so city level preparation runs on the seasonal outlook rather than on the first heatwave.

    Conclusion

    The forecast has moved from probability to expectation, since the agency now attaches a greater than 90 per cent chance to further intensification and expects the event to hold through the winter. That gives India a lead time of several months between the warning and the season in which the consequences land, which is the interval in which seed, storage and import decisions are actually made. The status is that the event is intensifying and unbroken, and the next milestone is the peak window itself, when the category will either be confirmed or fall short of it.

    Back2Basics: The Nino regions and the Nino index

    1. What the regions are: The Nino regions are fixed boxes in the equatorial Pacific, numbered 1+2, 3, 3.4 and 4, running from the South American coast westward.
    2. Nino 3.4 as the standard region: Nino 3.4, in the central equatorial Pacific, is the region used for standard El Nino Southern Oscillation monitoring.
    3. What the index measures: The index tracks the sea surface temperature anomaly, meaning the departure from the long period average for that region, rather than the absolute temperature.
    4. How an event is classified: Sustained positive anomalies of half a degree Celsius or more mark an El Nino, and anomalies of about 2 degrees Celsius and above place it in the “very strong” category.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2017] With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)’ sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. IOD phenomenon is characterized by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. 2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino’s impact on the monsoon. Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 ANSWER: (b)”