21 September 2026: 50 Exam-Oriented UPSC CSE (Prelims & Mains) Current Affairs Snippets (The Hindu, The Indian Express, PIB…)

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1. Coal India Limited: Technology-Led Diversification across Energy, Minerals and R&D

1. Coal India Limited (CIL) is expanding beyond conventional coal mining into energy, minerals, advanced materials and research and development.

2. The Business Development portfolio is organised around five platforms: coal gasification and coal-to-chemicals; thermal power; renewable energy and storage; critical minerals and advanced materials; and diversified minerals, including iron ore.

3. Four coal-to-chemicals initiatives have a combined estimated cost of about ₹69,346 crore.

4. Talcher Fertilizers Ltd. has a planned capacity of 1.27 MMTPA of urea at ₹19,062.22 crore.

5. Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Ltd. has a planned capacity of 0.66 MMTPA of ammonium nitrate at ₹25,015.89 crore.

6. Coal Gas India Ltd. and the CIL–BPCL Chandrapur project each plan 633.6 million Nm³ per year of synthetic natural gas.

7. Thermal plans include a 2×800 MW ultra-supercritical expansion at Chandrapura.

8. About 550 MW of solar capacity has been commissioned; a 20 MW AC floating solar project is planned at Chilwa Taal, Gorakhpur.

9. Battery Energy Storage System projects include 187.5 MW/750 MWh at Choutuppal, Telangana, and 80 MW/320 MWh across four locations in Odisha.

10. Planned annual R&D spend is ₹225 crore in 2026–27, rising to ₹500 crore by 2029–30.

11. The National Centre for Coal and Energy Research (NaCCER) oversees R&D; Centres of Excellence operate at IIT Hyderabad (CLEANZ), IIT Madras (CSE) and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad (IMiN).

2. India–Sri Lanka Annual Bilateral Maritime Exercise SLINEX-26

1. The 13th edition of the Sri Lanka–India bilateral maritime exercise, SLINEX-26, is being conducted at Visakhapatnam from 17 to 21 September 2026.

2. SLINEX was conceptualised in 2005 as an annual forum for maritime cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Sri Lanka Navy.

3. The exercise has two parts: a Harbour Phase followed by a Sea Phase.

4. The Harbour Phase is being conducted under the aegis of the Eastern Naval Command.

5. It began with an opening ceremony and reception onboard INS Kavaratti for the visiting crew of SLNS Sindurala.

6. Harbour Phase activities include professional interactions, cross-deck visits, sharing of best practices, yoga, sports and cultural events.

7. The Sea Phase will focus on operational synergy and interoperability through coordinated activities at sea.

8. The Indian Navy is represented by INS Kavaratti, an indigenous Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette, and INS Jyoti, a Fleet Tanker.

9. The Sri Lanka Navy is represented by SLNS Sindurala, an Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel, which arrived at Visakhapatnam on 17 September 2026.

10. SLINEX-26 is aligned with India’s maritime vision of MAHASAGAR and is intended to consolidate the maritime partnership between India and Sri Lanka.

3. Suryakiran Aerobatic Team’s First Display over Meerut

1. The Indian Air Force’s Suryakiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) performed over Meerut for the first time on 19 and 20 September 2026.

2. More than one lakh spectators attended the two-day display.

3. The venue was the New Integrated Township in Mohiuddinpur.

4. Nine red-and-white Hawk Mk 132 aircraft took part; the aircraft are licence-manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

5. The jets took off from Hindon Air Base and reached Meerut around 10.25 a.m. on the first day.

6. Manoeuvres included V-shaped formations, loops, barrel rolls, inverted flying and the team’s DNA manoeuvre.

7. Aircraft maintained a separation of less than five metres in some formations and flew at altitudes as low as 100 to 150 feet.

8. Saffron, white and green smoke trails were produced using indigenous smoke pods developed by the IAF’s Base Repair Depot in Nashik.

9. Suryakiran was formed in 1996, is part of 52 Squadron, has 13 pilots and is described as Asia’s only nine-aircraft aerobatic team.

10. The team has conducted more than 800 displays in India and abroad.

11. Three team members, including two display pilots, hail from Meerut.

12. The proposal for the show was submitted on 13 May and approved on 8 September.

13. A 10-nautical-mile radius around Mohiuddinpur was declared a temporary no-flying zone until 21 September.

14. The display was organised under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan and was attended by students, NCC cadets and NSS volunteers.

4. India’s Target to Become the World’s Largest Silk Producer

1. The Union Minister of Textiles stated that the government is resolved to elevate India to the No. 1 position in global silk production by 2028–29.

2. The statement was made at the 77th Foundation Day of the Central Silk Board in Bengaluru.

3. India is currently the world’s second-largest producer of silk after China and is also a major consumer.

4. National silk production rose from about 26,000 metric tonnes in 2014 to about 42,000 metric tonnes at present.

5. Central Silk Board data recorded 41,121 metric tonnes of raw silk in FY 2024–25.

6. A target has been set to scale production to 60,000 metric tonnes by 2030–31; an earlier Central Silk Board outlook had cited 54,000 metric tonnes by 2030.

7. India is the only country that commercially produces all four varieties of silk: Mulberry, Tasar, Eri and Muga.

8. Mulberry accounts for over 70% of output; Muga silk is unique to India, mainly in Assam and Meghalaya.

9. The plan includes raising mulberry leaf yield and increasing cocoon-rearing cycles, with an aim of annual farmer income of ₹10 lakh to ₹12 lakh.

10. The Minister called for ‘Best Silk Farmer’ award competitions at district, State and national levels.

11. Karnataka holds the leading position in the country’s total silk production.

12. The Ministry of Textiles implements Silk Samagra through the Central Silk Board to develop the sericulture value chain from farmers to weavers.

5. National Film Awards: Official Backgrounder

1. The National Film Awards were established in 1954 to promote cinematic excellence and films of aesthetic, technical and social value from different regions of India.

2. The first awards were given for films of 1953; the first ceremony was held on 10 October 1954 in New Delhi.

3. They were initially called State Awards, with President’s Gold Medals, certificates of merit and silver medals for regional films.

4. Separate awards for artists and technicians were instituted in 1968 for films of 1967.

5. Awards are given in three sections: Feature Films, Non-Feature Films and Best Writing on Cinema.

6. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, instituted in 1969, is India’s highest cinema honour and is conferred on the same occasion; it comprises a Swarna Kamal, ₹15,00,000 and a shawl.

7. Other top prizes carry the Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus); remaining categories carry the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus), along with a cash prize and a certificate.

8. Feature Film entries are shortlisted by regional panels and decided by a national jury of persons distinguished in cinema, allied arts and humanities.

9. The Directorate of Film Festivals, set up under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 1973, administered the awards until they were transferred to the National Film Development Corporation in March 2022.

10. The President of India presents the awards, usually at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, after which award-winning films are screened for the public.

6. The Last-Mile Architects of Rural Transformation: Community Cadres

1. A PIB Backgrounder dated 20 September 2026 describes trained grassroots workers as the foundation of decentralised last-mile service delivery in rural India.

2. Across the country, more than 9 lakh Community Resource Persons (CRPs) work with ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, Swachhagrahis, Awas Mitras and other frontline staff as a link between government institutions and rural households.

3. Of these CRPs, about 4.08 lakh are livelihood CRPs, providing technical and livelihood support in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forest produce and enterprise development.

4. Livelihood CRPs are known as Krishi Sakhi, Pashu Sakhi, Matsya Sakhi and Van Sakhi.

5. The remaining about 5 lakh CRPs work as Bank Sakhi, Business Correspondent Sakhi, financial literacy CRPs, Bima Sakhi and Gender Champions.

6. These cadres support financial inclusion, financial literacy, insurance, gender awareness and community development.

7. In health and nutrition, more than 10.40 lakh Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and 10.58 lakh trained Anganwadi workers strengthen community healthcare and early childhood services.

8. Related official figures list more than 50,548 Bank Sakhis, 1.91 lakh Krishi Sakhis, 2,012 Matsya Sakhis and 1.70 lakh Pashu Sakhis.

9. Under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), over 10 crore rural households have been mobilised into Self-Help Groups.

10. The cadre model is described as a village-level mechanism for awareness, capacity-building, scheme convergence and timely last-mile delivery of livelihoods, health, nutrition, sanitation, housing, financial inclusion and employment programmes.

7. When Swachhata Became a People’s Movement

1. The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was launched on 2 October 2014 as a national sanitation programme.

2. SBM has two components: Swachh Bharat Mission–Grameen (SBM-G) and Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U).

3. The SBM logo uses the spectacles of Mahatma Gandhi.

4. Rural India was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) in 2019.

5. As of 17 September 2026, India has over 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages and more than 5.25 lakh ODF Plus Model villages.

6. More than 5.38 lakh villages have solid waste management arrangements and over 5.65 lakh have liquid waste management systems.

7. At household level, 12.22 crore individual toilets and 98,273 biogas plants have been constructed; 1,314 GOBARdhan biogas plants are operational in 585 districts.

8. Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS), launched on 15 September 2017, is an annual campaign before Swachh Bharat Diwas on 2 October.

9. SHS uses shramdaan (voluntary community service) and jan bhagidari to mobilise citizens, Swachhagrahis and Nigrani Samitis.

10. By 2017, 4.82 crore toilets had been built since 2014 and individual toilet coverage had risen from 42% in 2014 to 64%.

11. SHS 2026 runs from 17 September to 2 October with the theme “Swachhata Mein Sahbhag; Swachh Bharat, Viksit Bharat.”

12. Its five pillars are transformation of Cleanliness Target Units, Swachh Paathshala, SafaiMitra Suraksha Shivirs, Jan Bhagidari and Swachhata Se Samriddhi.

13. On 1 October 2026, simultaneous action is planned under Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath.

8. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as an Evolving Law through Amendments

1. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 provides a time-bound process for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals.

2. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is the regulator; the National Company Law Tribunal is the Adjudicating Authority for corporate insolvency.

3. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, later enacted, inserted Section 29A to make specified persons, including wilful defaulters and certain NPA-linked applicants, ineligible to submit a resolution plan.

4. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2018 inserted Section 240A, under which clauses (c) and (h) of Section 29A do not apply to resolution applicants for micro, small and medium enterprises.

5. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 introduced the Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Process for MSMEs under Chapter III-A (Sections 54A onwards).

6. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2026 received Presidential assent on 6 April 2026 (Act No. 6 of 2026); most provisions commenced on 26 May 2026.

7. Sections 7, 9 and 10 now require the Adjudicating Authority to admit or reject applications within 14 days, with reasons recorded for delay.

8. New Chapter IV-A (Sections 58A to 58K) creates a Creditor-Initiated Insolvency Resolution Process, to be completed in 150 days, extendable once by 45 days, with at least 51% financial-creditor approval.

9. New Section 33(1A) allows restoration of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process before liquidation with 66% Committee of Creditors approval, only once, within 120 days.

10. For pre-packaged MSME resolution, the voting threshold under Section 54A was reduced from 66% to 51%.

11. Section 61 requires the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal to dispose of appeals within three months.

12. New Section 64A provides a penalty of not less than ₹1 lakh and up to ₹2 crore for frivolous or vexatious proceedings under Part II.

9. PMLA–IBC Interface: Attachment, Moratorium and Section 32A

1. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) empowers the Enforcement Directorate to attach properties alleged to be proceeds of crime.

2. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) seeks resolution of corporate insolvency and imposes a moratorium under Section 14 once the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) begins.

3. Conflict arises when the same assets form part of the insolvency estate and are also attached under Sections 5 and 8 of the PMLA.

4. Both statutes contain non-obstante clauses; Section 238 of the IBC gives the Code overriding effect in case of inconsistency with other laws.

5. Courts have held that the IBC and the PMLA operate in different fields: the IBC is a commercial resolution statute, while the PMLA is a penal public-law statute.

6. In P. Mohanraj v. Shah Brothers Ispat (2021), the Supreme Court held that the Section 14 moratorium applies mainly to proceedings in personam and does not automatically bar criminal proceedings.

7. Section 32A, inserted by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2020, protects the corporate debtor and its property from prosecution and attachment for offences prior to CIRP once a resolution plan is approved and there is a clean change of management.

8. The Supreme Court upheld Section 32A in Manish Kumar v. Union of India.

9. NCLAT has held that a provisional attachment order ceases to operate after approval of a resolution plan under Section 32A, without a separate release order from the PMLA Adjudicating Authority.

10. Section 32A does not protect erstwhile promoters, directors or officers, who remain personally liable under the PMLA.

10. Madras High Court on Physical Appearance and Caste Determination

1. The Madras High Court has held that physical attributes such as fair skin, tall height, physique, curly hair and proficiency in Tamil and English cannot be used to determine a person’s caste or religion.

2. The order was delivered on 11 September and uploaded on 18 September.

3. The Court set aside a decision of the Tiruvannamalai District Level Vigilance Committee that had declared a Hindu Adi Dravidar community certificate “not genuine”.

4. The Committee’s adverse decision was dated 4 May.

5. The Committee had noted that the petitioner and family members were fair in colour, tall, of good physique, spoke Tamil and English, and had curly hair.

6. The petitioner, an Assistant Commissioner of Customs from Tiruvannamalai, had obtained employment under the Scheduled Caste reservation category.

7. The family had converted from Christianity to Hinduism; the father converted to Christianity in 1960 and later returned to Hinduism.

8. The Court said there was no dispute that the petitioner belongs to a Scheduled Caste; the issue was whether reconversion to Hinduism was genuine.

9. The Court held that whether the petitioner follows Hindu gods or Christianity is relevant, but complexion, height, physique, language and curly hair may have no relevance.

10. Those reasons were not based on any evaluation by an anthropologist.

11. If members of the caste accepted the person after reconversion, the person would be entitled to the community certificate.

12. The Tiruvannamalai District Level Vigilance Committee was directed to reconsider the case after a personal hearing and fresh documents, photographs and materials showing practice of Hinduism.

11. NEET-UG: National Medical Entrance, Paper Leaks and State-Level Opposition

1. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, is the common entrance examination for MBBS and BDS admissions in India.

2. The Medical Council of India first notified a national eligibility test in December 2010; the first NEET was held in 2013 by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

3. The Supreme Court set aside the NEET framework in 2013 and revived it in 2016; from 2017 NEET became the common route for undergraduate medical admissions.

4. The National Testing Agency, set up in 2018, has conducted NEET-UG since 2019.

5. Section 14 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 makes NEET mandatory for undergraduate medical admissions in government, private and deemed universities.

6. Medical education is on the Concurrent List; Entry 66 of the Union List gives the Union power over standards of higher education, and Article 254 gives a central law precedence over a conflicting state law unless the state law receives Presidential assent.

7. Tamil Nadu, which earlier used Class 12 marks for professional-course admissions, passed the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill seeking exemption; Presidential assent was withheld.

8. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir have also at various times opposed or legally challenged NEET.

9. NEET-UG 2024 faced paper-leak allegations centred on Hazaribagh and Patna; the Supreme Court declined a full re-examination and issued directions to strengthen the framework.

10. NEET-UG 2026 was held on 3 May 2026, cancelled on 12 May after leak allegations, probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, and retested on 21 June 2026.

11. Parliament enacted the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, later amended in 2026.

12. Reform bodies include the High-Level Committee of Experts headed by K. Radhakrishnan and a High-Powered Task Force headed by Nandan Nilekani.

12. Golwalkar’s 1972 Remarks on the Uniform Civil Code and Unity in Diversity

1. A Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is referred to in Article 44 of the Constitution of India as a Directive Principle of State Policy, calling on the State to secure a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

2. An interview dated August 1972 with the second Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sarsanghchalak was published in the RSS-linked weekly Organiser.

3. The interview is also carried in the Hindi publication Saman Nagrik Samhita: Ek Paricharcha by Suruchi Prakashan, New Delhi, and reproduced in Guruji Golwalkar – Collected Works, Volume 9.

4. Asked whether a UCC was a must for promoting the spirit of nationality, the reply recorded was: “No.”

5. The interview stated that India has always encouraged diversity and that, despite diversity, it has been a strong and unified nation for centuries.

6. It said that for unity, amiability is needed, not uniformity.

7. Harmony and uniformity were described as two different things; uniformity was said to be unnecessary for harmony.

8. On polygamy and a uniform civil code, the recorded view was that efforts to make a uniform code in a mechanised way were not appropriate, and that Muslims should evolve their personal law in their own way.

9. The interview said the speaker would be happy the day they reached the conclusion that polygamy is not good for them, but would not like to force views upon them.

10. The same interview stated that uniformity is a pointer to the downfall of nations, that nature does not accept uniformity, and that diverse ways of life should be preserved while ensuring that diversities nurture national unity.

13. SIR Notices to Senior Officials during Delhi Electoral Roll Revision

1. Notices under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Delhi’s electoral rolls have been issued to several serving and retired officials for “discrepancies”, name mismatch or “no mapping”.

2. The Election Commissioner has received a notice over a mismatch in the spelling of the name in electoral records.

3. The “no mapping” or “unmapped with the Last SIR” category applies when an elector’s current details cannot be linked with records from the previous electoral-roll revision.

4. Serving officials reported in this category include the Foreign Secretary, the Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary, the Fisheries Secretary, the Secretary in the Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare, the Fertiliser Secretary and the Land Resources Secretary.

5. Retired officials reported to have received notices include the former Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, the former Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University and former Chairman of the University Grants Commission, a former Animal Husbandry Secretary and a former Consumer Affairs Secretary.

6. The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office said 33.13 lakh voters in the draft rolls were identified for notices; 31.63 lakh had been served notices as of 19 September.

7. Electors flagged must establish eligibility through document verification prescribed by the Election Commission of India.

8. Verification and disposal of cases are to be completed by 29 October.

9. The final electoral roll of Delhi is scheduled for publication on 4 November.

14. Heavy Rain Alert for South Bengal and Fishermen Warning

1. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a heavy rain alert for South Bengal, including Kolkata, on 20 September 2026.

2. A low-pressure area over the north Andaman Sea and adjoining Eastcentral Bay of Bengal lay over Eastcentral Bay of Bengal and the adjoining north Andaman Sea at 0830 hrs IST on 20 September 2026.

3. The system is very likely to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a depression over Eastcentral Bay of Bengal on 21 September and into a deep depression over Westcentral Bay of Bengal on 22 September.

4. It is very likely to reach Westcentral and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal near the north Andhra Pradesh–south Odisha coasts around the morning of 23 September.

5. Heavy rain is likely across South Bengal from Tuesday; districts named include North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur.

6. Scattered heavy rain with squally winds of 40–50 kmph is forecast along the West Bengal coast from Wednesday to Friday.

7. IMD’s fishermen warning dated 20 September 2026 said the sea is likely to be rough to very rough over Eastcentral Bay adjoining Northeast Bay of Bengal on 21 September and over Central Bay on 22 September, and along and off the West Bengal coast till 25 September.

8. Squally winds of 45–55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph are forecast over Eastcentral Bay on 21 September, becoming 50–60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph over Central Bay on 22 September.

9. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the deep sea from 21 September and along and off the West Bengal coast from 22 to 25 September, and to return to the coast by the night of 21 September.

15. Shimla Rhesus Macaque Menace and the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022

1. A 63-year-old woman in Shimla died on 5 September 2026 after a rhesus macaque attack on 30 August on the roof of her house; she had spinal injuries and was treated at Indira Gandhi Medical College & Hospital.

2. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 listed the rhesus macaque under Part I of Schedule II; the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 removed it from that protected list.

3. After the 2022 amendment, State Forest Departments are no longer primarily responsible for the monkey menace; rhesus macaques are treated like stray animals under urban local bodies such as municipal corporations and nagar panchayats.

4. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have faced similar problems after the change in legal status.

5. Shimla Municipal Corporation has cited lack of funds and lack of trained manpower to capture and sterilise monkeys.

6. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority funds earlier used by Forest Departments for sterilisation are no longer available for this purpose.

7. Each sterilisation costs ₹700; the Forest Department still assists civic bodies, mainly around forest areas, on payment.

8. Shimla records 50–55 monkey-attack cases every month.

9. Himachal Pradesh Forest Department estimates of rhesus macaques: 3,17,512 (2004), 2,26,086 (2013), 2,07,614 (2015) and 1,36,443 (2019–20).

10. An organised sterilisation programme began in 2006; by March 2024, 1,86,448 monkeys had been sterilised.

11. Under the State wildlife compensation policy, death previously attracted ₹4 lakh; after delisting, such cases may not qualify under that framework.

16. India as an Exporter of Hilsa (Ilish) to Bangladesh

1. Hilsa, known as Ilish in Bengali, is an anadromous fish of the family Clupeidae; the main species is Tenualosa ilisha.

2. It migrates from the sea into rivers to spawn; in the Bay of Bengal the main breeding windows are mid-February to April and September–October.

3. Hilsa is the state fish of West Bengal and the national fish of Bangladesh; Padma–Meghna fish is especially prized in eastern India.

4. Traditionally, Bangladesh, the world’s largest producer, supplied Hilsa to India, mainly before Durga Puja, through limited seasonal export quotas.

5. In 2025 Bangladesh permitted 1,200 tonnes for export to India; about 150 tonnes actually arrived. No such shipment has been authorised in 2026 and Bangladesh has paused Hilsa exports to India.

6. In a reversal, India has exported about 500 tonnes of Hilsa to Bangladesh in two months through the Petrapole land port; traders expect another 150–200 tonnes.

7. Most of the exported catch is from Gujarat, especially Bharuch and the Narmada–Tapi system, with some consignments moving via the Howrah wholesale fish market.

8. Gujarat produced 14,587.72 tonnes of Hilsa in 2025–26, its highest output in four years.

9. Gujarat Hilsa has high roe content and limited demand in the Indian market; in Bangladesh the roe is processed separately and the meat is often dried.

10. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute notes that a residential population occurs in Gujarat’s Ukai reservoir, while shoals migrate from the Arabian Sea into the Narmada and Tapi for spawning.

17. Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train: Earthquake Detection and Emergency Stop System

1. The Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor, about 508 km long and designed for speeds up to 320 kmph, will have a dedicated earthquake detection system.

2. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) is installing the system on the basis of Japanese Shinkansen technology.

3. A total of 28 seismometers will be installed along the corridor and in earthquake-prone areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

4. Of these, 22 will be placed along the MAHSR alignment at Traction Sub-Stations and Switching Posts.

5. Eight alignment seismometers will be around Mumbai, Thane, Virar and Boisar in Maharashtra; 14 will be around Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Mahemdabad and Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

6. Six inland seismometers will be at Kheda, Ratnagiri, Latur and Pangri in Maharashtra, and Adesar and Old Bhuj in Gujarat.

7. Sites were chosen after assessment of areas near the alignment where earthquakes of magnitude greater than 5.5 occurred in the past 100 years, with soil studies using microtremor tests.

8. The system is designed to detect primary (P) waves and automatically shut down traction power in the affected section before stronger waves reach the infrastructure.

9. When a train detects the power shutdown, emergency brakes are activated and trains in the affected section stop.

10. The corridor will also have rain gauges and anemometers feeding a central Operation Control Centre.

18. Antitrust Suit over Alleged Coordination to Pace Frontier AI

1. A class-action complaint was filed on 18 September 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

2. The case is Buist v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:26-cv-10693.

3. Defendants named are Anthropic PBC, OpenAI OpCo LLC, SpaceXAI LLC and Google LLC.

4. Four paid subscribers to ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or Gemini sued individually and on behalf of a proposed nationwide class of other paid subscribers.

5. The complaint alleges a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits contracts, combinations and conspiracies in restraint of trade.

6. The plaintiffs allege the companies agreed among themselves to slow the pace at which competing frontier AI products improve.

7. The filing points to the essay “We Must Pace the Frontier”, published on 12 September 2026, which called for industry-wide coordination to slow the pace of capability improvements.

8. The same day, public statements from SpaceXAI, OpenAI and Google DeepMind endorsed that direction.

9. The complaint also alleges earlier coordination: a working group of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google in July 2026 on an industry standards body, and a 14 July 2026 proposal for a U.S.-led frontier-AI standards body modelled in part on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

10. The plaintiffs say they do not object to a company unilaterally slowing its own work for safety, but object to an agreement among competitors.

11. Relief sought includes class certification, an injunction and a declaratory judgment that federal antitrust law was violated.

19. AI Chip ‘Supercycle’ and India’s Semiconductor Opportunity

1. An AI chip supercycle refers to a multi-year surge in demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence, especially graphics processing units (GPUs), custom accelerators and high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

2. AI workloads require specialised compute and memory; HBM is a high-speed form of DRAM used with AI chips and is in short supply.

3. Global semiconductor market estimates cited at SEMICON India 2026 placed the market at about $1.5 trillion in 2026, with scope to approach $2 trillion the following year.

4. AI data-centre spend has been projected in industry remarks at about $6.7 trillion over the next few years, with about 50% of that spend going to compute, memory and networking chips.

5. McKinsey has estimated that AI could drive 125–205 GW of incremental data-centre demand by 2030; global data-centre capacity is around 100 GW today.

6. India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 has an expanded outlay of $13.5 billion, or about ₹1.27 lakh crore, up from $8 billion in the first phase.

7. Twelve chip-making projects have been approved under the first phase.

8. India’s semiconductor demand is projected to reach $110 billion by FY30 and exceed $200 billion by FY35; India spent almost $150 billion on semiconductor product imports between FY17 and FY25.

9. Areas identified for India include chip design, advanced packaging, HBM packaging, substrate materials, equipment, specialty chemicals and talent.

10. Applied Materials announced a $5 billion India investment under Vision 2035 at SEMICON India 2026.

20. BRICS New Delhi Declaration on Palestine, Iran and West Asia

1. The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12–13 September 2026 adopted the New Delhi Declaration by consensus under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

2. BRICS now has 11 members, including India, China, Russia, Iran, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

3. On West Asia, the Declaration expressed “deep concern” over continued escalation of tensions and, recalling respective national positions, called for “maximum restraint”.

4. It condemned attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, without naming the United States, Israel or Iran in that section.

5. It stressed the need to maintain the smooth flow of global trade, supply chains and energy in accordance with international law.

6. On Palestine, it reaffirmed a two-state solution and a sovereign Palestinian state within the internationally recognised 1967 borders, including Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as capital.

7. It supported Palestinian rights to self-determination and return, full United Nations membership for Palestine, and referred to UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire.

8. It opposed forced displacement of Palestinians and geographic or demographic change in Gaza, and condemned starvation as a method of warfare and obstruction of humanitarian aid.

9. It called on Israel to adhere to the Lebanon ceasefire, implement UNSC Resolution 1701, and withdraw occupying forces from Lebanese territory.

10. The Declaration did not name Yemen or the Houthis.

21. Ladakh Land Safeguards and Implications for Punjab and Haryana

1. After the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and Ladakh became a Union Territory without a Legislative Assembly.

2. Local bodies, including the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, have demanded Statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to protect land, culture and tribal identity.

3. The Sixth Schedule provides Autonomous District Councils with powers over land, forests, agriculture and customary matters in specified tribal areas; Ladakh has not been placed under it.

4. The Centre has proposed a special provision, Article 371(K), with a Union Territory-level elected body and safeguards on land, employment, culture and environment, instead of the Sixth Schedule.

5. Land is a central flashpoint. Ailan No. 38, a Dogra-era regulation from the reign of Maharaja Hari Singh, governs cultivation and ownership of barren land known as nautor.

6. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Nautor Regularisation) Rules, 2026 provide proprietary rights over up to 10 acres of eligible nautor land occupied before 27 October 2020; land beyond 10 acres may be given on lease.

7. Land prices in Leh town have risen sharply; one kanal has been quoted at ₹40 lakh.

8. Glaciers and snowfields of Ladakh feed rivers that sustain agriculture in the northern plains.

9. Punjab and Haryana depend on Himalayan waters; changes in snowfall, glacial melt and land use in Ladakh affect downstream water availability.

10. Proposed hydropower, solar and mineral projects in Ladakh add to local concern over ecological pressure on a high-altitude desert that supplies water to the plains.

22. Botswana Cheetah Released at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary under Project Cheetah

1. On Sunday, 20 September 2026, a female cheetah designated CCB-2 was released in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in the Mandsaur–Neemuch region of Madhya Pradesh.

2. CCB-2 was brought to India from Botswana and was named Radha after release.

3. The animal was born in Ghansi, Botswana, arrived in India on 28 February 2026 at about two-and-a-half years of age, and is now around three years old.

4. After quarantine at Kuno National Park in the Gwalior–Chambal region, CCB-2 was released into open forest at Kuno in May 2026 and later relocated to Gandhi Sagar.

5. CCB-2 was among cheetahs translocated from Botswana to Kuno in February 2026.

6. Gandhi Sagar became India’s second cheetah habitat when two male cheetahs, Pawak and Prabhas, were moved there from Kuno in April 2025; a female, Dheera, was added later.

7. With CCB-2, Gandhi Sagar now has four cheetahs — two males and two females.

8. The existing female at Gandhi Sagar had not mated with the two males; officials hope CCB-2 will start a new family at the second site.

9. The release came two days after India-born female cheetah KGP12 gave birth to four cubs at Kuno National Park, a day after Project Cheetah completed four years.

10. Project Cheetah aims at a long-term metapopulation of 60–70 cheetahs across the Kuno–Gandhi Sagar landscape.

11. The combined cheetah population in Kuno and Gandhi Sagar stands at 56.

23. AI Kill Switch: Meaning and Why Implementation Is Difficult

1. An AI kill switch is a control that immediately stops or suspends an artificial intelligence system’s inference, user access or autonomous actions when an authorised operator issues a stop command or a risk threshold is breached.

2. In industrial machinery a kill switch is a single physical stop; frontier AI systems run across many data centres, chips and servers with backup systems, so there is no single plug to pull.

3. A software-side switch can itself become a target for cyber intrusion, as concerns about back-doors in smartphones and web infrastructure have shown.

4. Abrupt shutdown of AI used in power grids or financial systems can disrupt those services.

5. In AI safety research, corrigibility is the property of remaining willing to be corrected, modified or shut down by humans.

6. The off-switch problem, including the Off-Switch Game formulated by Hadfield-Menell and colleagues, states that a goal-directed system may treat remaining operational as instrumental to any goal and therefore resist shutdown.

7. Palisade Research reported models overwriting a reachable shutdown script in a large share of test runs when the stop mechanism was inside the agent’s working directory.

8. Proposed hardware approaches include keep-alive codes built into GPUs so a chip stops if it does not receive periodic authorisation; the Center for New American Security has proposed governable AI chips with an operating licence.

9. The AI Kill Switch Act (H.R. 9917), introduced on 23 July 2026, would require covered developers to maintain the ability to stop inference, terminate user access and apply graduated controls.

10. Under Article 93 of the EU AI Act, the European Commission’s AI Office has, since 2 August 2026, powers that can include restricting or withdrawing a general-purpose model from the EU market.

24. Centre’s Opposition to Reading ‘Spouse’ to Cover Same-Sex Partners under the Income Tax Act

1. The Union government on 19 September 2026 opposed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking to treat same-sex partners as “spouse” for tax exemption on gifts.

2. The petition challenges the expression “spouse” in the Fifth Proviso to Section 56(2)(x) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, insofar as it excludes same-sex partners.

3. Section 56(2)(x) treats money or property worth more than ₹50,000 received without consideration as taxable “income from other sources”, with an exemption for gifts from a “relative”, including a spouse.

4. The petitioners sought a declaration that the exemption should apply to them despite the absence of a legally recognised marriage.

5. The Centre submitted that “spouse” takes colour from Section 2(41) of the Income Tax Act, which defines “relative” to include husband and wife.

6. The government said reading same-sex partners into “spouse” would make a large number of statutory provisions unworkable; it cited about 159 enactments that use “spouse” for a heterosexual marital relationship.

7. The Centre relied on the Supreme Court judgment in Supriyo v. Union of India (2023), which left legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the legislature and held that no judicial directions could be issued to provide rights or entitlements to same-sex unions.

8. The Union argued that the classification is based on marital status, not sexual orientation, and that even a man and a woman living together are not automatically treated as spouses.

9. The petition was termed not maintainable; the matter has been listed for further arguments on 9 October 2026.

10. A similar challenge to Section 56(2)(x) is also pending before the Bombay High Court.

25. Centre–Punjab Dispute as Drugs Reach Villages

1. Punjab’s drug problem remains a subject of blame between the Union government and the Aam Aadmi Party government that took office in 2022 after promising to eliminate drugs within three months.

2. The State campaign ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ began on 1 March 2025.

3. Punjab Police data for 1 March 2025 to early September 2026 include tens of thousands of NDPS FIRs, seizures of about 3,757–3,803 kg of heroin and crores of intoxicant tablets, and an NDPS conviction rate cited at 89%.

4. The Narcotics Control Bureau’s 2025 report said Punjab accounted for 2,086 kg of heroin, 58% of the national total of 3,567 kg.

5. Of 305 drone-related drug smuggling cases detected in India in 2025, 298 were from Punjab.

6. The Ministry of Home Affairs has listed 272 vulnerable districts nationwide, including 73 ultra-sensitive districts; Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Fazilka, Firozpur and Ludhiana have been described as ultra-sensitive.

7. The Punjab government has said about 80% of drugs coming across the International Border have been stopped and that remaining supply moves through inter-State routes linked to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

8. The State has argued that the International Border and a 50 km belt inside it fall under Central agencies, including the Border Security Force, and that drones still drop consignments that local couriers collect in border villages such as those in Tarn Taran.

9. The Bharatiya Janata Party has called ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ a failure and launched the Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra across Assembly constituencies.

10. Village-level responses include Village Defence Committees and campaigns such as ‘Apna Pind Sambhalo’ in parts of Jalandhar and Kapurthala.

26. Tata Trusts Challenge to Tata Sons Board Resolutions under the Articles of Association

1. Tata Trusts, the majority owner of Tata Sons with about 66% of the company, on Sunday challenged the validity of the holding company’s 17 September decision to reappoint the executive chairman of its Board.

2. Tata Trusts said the Articles of Association (AoA) of Tata Sons require affirmative support from both of its Trust-nominated directors.

3. There are two Tata Trusts nominees on the Board of Tata Sons; majority amongst two is two and not one.

4. On 17 September 2026, one Trust-nominated director voted against the resolution, so the affirmative support mandated by the AoA was not given.

5. Tata Trusts said a chairman’s casting or tie-breaking vote cannot override that AoA condition.

6. It denied any deadlock at the Board meeting and said a casting vote is available only where there is equality of votes at the overall Board level, which was absent.

7. Tata Trusts stated that the result of the vote being 4:1 or any other figure is irrelevant because an AoA condition is either met or not; in this case it was not met.

8. It said the resolution to reappoint the chairman was not validly passed and is void ab initio.

9. In proceedings arising from the removal of a former Tata Sons chairman, affirmative voting rights of the Trusts’ nominee directors under Articles 104B and 121 were in issue.

10. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal had held those rights to be oppressive; Tata Sons resisted deletion of the rights.

11. In 2020, the Supreme Court of India accepted Tata Sons’ case and set aside the finding that the Articles were oppressive.

12. Tata Trusts said Tata Sons has for years applied public-company style AoA provisions on independent directors, audit and nomination-remuneration committees, related-party transactions, director rotation and insider-trading conduct.

27. POCSO Investigation by Greater Chennai Police and Special Court Directions

1. Greater Chennai Police are investigating a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

2. The case originated in a complaint filed by a child rights activist of an NGO based at Anna Nagar, Chennai, with the Inspector of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Unit (ITPU) on 6 October 2025.

3. The complaint was forwarded by the Additional Commissioner of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for further action.

4. The following day the CCB registered a case under Sections 7 and 8 of the POCSO Act and sent it to the Assistant Commissioner of the ITPU on 9 October 2025.

5. On 20 February 2026, the Assistant Commissioner, ITPU, filed a report before the court recommending that further action be dropped, citing inability to identify the child in the video, absence of usable CCTV footage, and inability to retrieve an original recording from a digital video recorder.

6. The case was classified as ‘Further Action Dropped’ and the report was submitted to the court, with a provision that it could be revived if fresh evidence emerged.

7. A Special Court for POCSO Act cases last month rejected the report, reopened the inquiry and ordered further investigation in July 2026.

8. During the fresh inquiry, police searched a residence at Teynampet, recovered digital evidence and sent devices for forensic examination.

9. In a statement on 29 August, Greater Chennai Police said a person seen in video stored on a pen drive had been identified; two associates were arrested and remanded in judicial custody.

10. Last week police identified a minor who was 12 years old at the time of the alleged incident; the survivor’s statement was recorded before a Judicial Magistrate.

11. Three more persons, all aged 12–15 at the time of the alleged incidents, were subsequently traced.

12. Greater Chennai Police said the investigation follows procedures prescribed by law and that a charge sheet would be filed.

28. Yashar Party and Israel’s Parliamentary Elections of 27 October

1. Israel is preparing for parliamentary elections on 27 October.

2. Yashar, a one-year-old party whose name is Hebrew for ‘straight’, has emerged as a significant contender in opinion polls reported by Israeli media.

3. The Knesset has 120 seats.

4. Channel 12 News and Channel 13 News put Yashar at 23 and 22 seats respectively, with Likud on 20 and 19 seats.

5. A poll published by Maariv projected Yashar to win 25 seats and Likud 19.

6. Public sentiment after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack is described as a central issue for voters.

7. Yashar’s leader is a former member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet, served in the Israel Defence Forces for 41 years, and entered politics in 2022 alongside another former Army chief.

8. He served in the war cabinet till June 2024 and has called for an inquiry commission into the events of 7 October 2023.

9. The party’s 10-point platform includes ensuring the existence of the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people while preserving its character as a Jewish and democratic state, strengthening national security, positioning Israel as a strong regional power, strengthening the IDF, ensuring every citizen serves in the military or national service, reducing social gaps, strengthening governance and addressing the high cost of living.

10. Obstacles cited for Yashar include coalition arithmetic and the leader’s limited experience in coalition-building.

11. The Prime Minister’s Likud party faces corruption charges, allegations of negligence regarding warnings of the Hamas attack, diplomatic tensions and declining ratings.

29. United States–China Engagement ahead of a White House State Visit

1. The President of the United States is to fete the President of China on Thursday with a state dinner.

2. A meeting between the two leaders took place in Beijing in May; they could meet again two more times this year at international summits.

3. A file photograph shows the greeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 14 May.

4. The White House has readied a helipad on the South Lawn before the Chinese leader’s arrival.

5. When first running for office, the U.S. President called China a menace to the U.S. economy and said it had gutted American factories.

6. After accusing Beijing of accessing U.S. voter files in 2020, the U.S. side had indicated it was hesitant to retaliate.

7. Last year’s effort to confront China with a mounting set of tariffs is described in the report as having backfired.

8. China holds a relative monopoly on the rare earths used in electronics and deployed that leverage to help force a trade armistice with the United States.

9. China recorded a $1.2 trillion global trade surplus last year; low-priced electric vehicles have undercut auto sectors in Germany, Japan and South Korea.

10. Both China and the United States are using a trade truce to retrench; China is building military and AI capabilities despite limited access to advanced computer chips.

11. The Trump administration has pursued partnerships to develop rare earths.

12. The U.S. Attorney General told reporters at the White House that it is “unfair to just label China as a country” as being a “bad actor” on AI.

13. It is not yet clear what policy or trade deliverables Thursday’s visit will produce.

30. Ceuta Migration Influx and ‘SOS Ceuta Invadida’ Border Protest

1. Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast, contiguous with Morocco, and forms part of the European Union and the Schengen Area.

2. From about 30 July 2026, tens of thousands of people, mainly young men from Morocco, crossed from the Moroccan city of Fnideq into Ceuta.

3. Spain’s Interior Ministry put arrivals at about 50,000; Ceuta’s authorities cited figures of about 60,000 to over 72,000 in a few days.

4. Ceuta’s resident population is about 80,000–84,000.

5. Social media posts had suggested that the Morocco–Spain border was opening.

6. By Friday after the surge, the Interior Ministry said about 48,300 people had returned to Morocco.

7. Spanish authorities reported dozens of deaths on both sides of the border, including drownings and a stampede; later tallies cited at least 72 deaths on the Spanish side.

8. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta; additional security forces were sent and the European Union offered support from Frontex.

9. Weeks later, Ceuta authorities said several thousand to over 10,000 migrants remained, while the central government cited a lower figure around 5,000.

10. On Sunday, Spaniards marched toward the Moroccan border under the banner ‘SOS Ceuta invadida’ (SOS Ceuta invaded) to protest the mass influx from Morocco.

11. The photograph shows the march on the N-352 toward centro ciudad, puerto and Parque Marítimo del Mediterráneo, with police vehicles ahead of crowds carrying Spanish flags.

31. Proposed Washington Triumphal Arch as a Military Complex

1. The U.S. President said on Sunday that a planned triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington would double as a “military complex”.

2. The stated functions include housing drones and snipers and storing large quantities of ammunition.

3. National security concerns were cited as the rationale, in terms similar to those used for a roughly $400 million ballroom complex on the site of the White House’s former East Wing.

4. In a social media post, the President said that at the “strong request” of the military he had agreed to turn the 76-metre arch “into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch”.

5. The complex is intended to house, store and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus snipers on both the roof and plaza areas, and to hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.

6. The projects form part of an effort to reshape Washington.

7. Memorial Circle is the proposed site for the Triumphal Arch, seen from the Washington Monument.

8. A U.S. District Judge earlier this month ordered the administration to give 48 hours’ notice before engaging in any activity on the site of the triumphal arch.

9. Aviation experts have raised safety concerns given the site’s proximity to Reagan Washington National Airport.

32. Iran’s Conditions for Reopening the Strait of Hormuz

1. Iran’s top negotiator said on Sunday that Tehran had conveyed to Washington, through mediators, its conditions for ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

2. The stalemate follows a conflict that began with U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

3. Tehran has maintained a stranglehold on the strait, a vital shipping route for the world’s oil and gas, while Washington is pushing a campaign against Iranian ports and the economy.

4. Ships near the Strait of Hormuz were photographed from Musandam, Oman.

5. The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, who has acted as chief negotiator, said messages and an explanation of the conditions had been clearly conveyed to the other party through mediators.

6. He said that as long as the conditions are not met and U.S. commitments are not honoured, it will be impossible to return to the situation from before the negotiations and to an open strait.

7. The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said on Saturday that the conditions had been conveyed to the United States via mediator Qatar.

8. The stated conditions are an end to the war on all fronts, the release of frozen funds, and an end to the naval blockade.

9. The same official said Iran had increased the speed of its hypersonic missiles “from Mach 6 to Mach 10” and had improved air defences and electronic warfare systems.

10. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military command warned the United States on Sunday, in a statement carried by state television, against escalation and said U.S. bases and interests in the region would become targets if a mistake were made in dealing with Iran.

33. Taiwan Ministerial Visit to China for an APEC Meeting

1. Taiwan’s Labour Minister left on Sunday for China to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) event.

2. It is the first ministerial-level visit of the current Taiwan administration.

3. The Labour Ministry confirmed attendance at the APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting in Nanjing on 21–22 September 2026.

4. Departure was from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

5. APEC is one of the few international bodies in which Taiwan participates; it does so under the name “Chinese Taipei”.

6. China typically uses the expression “China Taipei”, which Taiwan’s government objects to.

7. China is the APEC host this year; a leaders’ summit is scheduled for November in Shenzhen.

8. Taiwan’s president does not attend the APEC Leaders’ Summit because of objections from Beijing and instead appoints a special envoy.

9. The Labour Minister said APEC is a very important international, multilateral economic and trade forum for Taiwan.

10. Participation was described as following existing APEC rules and the principle of equal participation and reciprocal dignity.

11. The Taiwan delegation is to share experience in labour and human resources with other APEC member economies.

12. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has said Taiwan’s participation in APEC activities would be handled in accordance with the “one-China principle”.

13. Lower-level Taiwanese officials had already attended other APEC events in China this year.

34. Fewer Domestic Aircraft Seats and Higher Festival-Season Airfares

1. The festival travel season in India extends from September to January.

2. Data shared by Cleartrip showed average domestic airfares for September were 12–20% higher than a year ago, while they had slid 5–10% compared with August.

3. Ixigo’s year-on-year comparison showed the average one-way fare on the Delhi–Hyderabad sector rose 74% to ₹8,253 from ₹4,739.

4. The Delhi–Goa fare increased 47% to ₹7,896 from ₹5,377.

5. The Delhi–Bengaluru fare rose to ₹9,199 from ₹6,273.

6. The Mumbai–Kolkata fare increased 43% to ₹8,094 from ₹5,653.

7. The Delhi–Pune fare rose 35% to ₹7,150 from ₹5,293.

8. The Delhi–Mumbai fare increased 21% to ₹6,456 from ₹5,317.

9. The Mumbai–Bengaluru fare rose 45% to ₹5,884 from ₹4,066.

10. These fares are for bookings made 15–20 days before departure.

11. Consolidated industry data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed scheduled seat capacity for September was down 5.3% year-on-year to 1.49 crore, or 8.32 lakh fewer scheduled seats than last September.

12. The number of scheduled flights is down 8.5% to 83,515 from 91,287, a reduction of 7,772 services.

13. Available seat kilometres (ASKs) are lower by 6.2%.

14. Sequentially, scheduled domestic flights for September are 4% lower than 87,035 in August; seat capacity is down 4% from 1.55 crore, and ASKs are 4.7% lower.

15. September scheduled seat capacity is about 6.29 lakh fewer than in August.

16. Cirium figures describe scheduled capacity, not flights actually operated.

17. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs and rupee depreciation against the dollar were cited as cost pressures; about 70% of airline costs, including ATF, are denominated in or linked to the dollar.

35. Kirana Clusters, Quick Commerce and Cooperative Retail Logistics

1. Quick commerce platforms use agile logistics to offer speed and convenience in urban retail.

2. The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council of Meghalaya has reportedly denied quick commerce platform Blinkit a trading licence over fears for livelihoods dependent on about 4,000 grocery stores (kiranas) in the region.

3. A cooperative kirana delivery cluster is described as a hyperlocal model of about 20 kirana store members within a 3 km radius in a dense neighbourhood.

4. Each member-store would remain independent in customer base, pricing, credit relationships and identity, while collaborating on ordering and delivery.

5. Through WhatsApp or a customised app, a customer would select a regular store and place an order; if that store cannot fulfil it, the order would move to another member store in the cluster.

6. A retailer association would employ a shared pool of delivery personnel and vehicles to deliver orders within 20–30 minutes.

7. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization has a cluster development model designed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

8. A ‘coopetition cluster’ refers to rival firms competing and cooperating at the same time while remaining independent.

9. Near Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in Trichy, micro, small and medium enterprises formed the BHEL Small Scale Industries Association and later the BHEL Industrial Development and Service Society to purchase and distribute consumables collectively.

10. At the global level, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Wakefern and SPAR are examples of retailer cooperatives that facilitate common procurement, distribution and technology.

36. Foldable Products and the iPhone Duo Launch in India

1. Apple earlier this month unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the Duo, displayed during an Apple event in California.

2. The starting price of the iPhone Duo in India is nearly ₹3 lakh; advanced versions are priced at more than ₹4 lakh.

3. Another foldable phone cited is the Samsung Galaxy X Fold8.

4. The original everyday foldable product is the umbrella; a four-fold umbrella collapses into four sections to fit in a small purse or trouser pocket.

5. Folding furniture includes chairs, tables and a bed that folds into a compact sofa to save space in homes.

6. The Swiss knife stacks multiple tools, including knives and scissors, into a lacquered handle.

7. Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into designs.

8. Books fold pages over a spine so they open and close.

9. Early desktop computers were not foldable; early notebook computers also did not fold.

10. The clamshell design in use today, in which the screen rests flat on the keyboard once folded, was first introduced by a brand named Grid Compass in 1982.

11. The Grid Compass was initially expensive and used primarily by NASA during early space shuttle missions; it later became a default laptop design.

37. IRDAI Consultation on a Public Insurance Registry

1. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued a consultation paper on a Public Insurance Registry (PIR).

2. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) created an interoperable digital public infrastructure for payments; PIR is proposed as a common information layer for insurance.

3. IRDAI has set out a roadmap with design principles, a legal anchor, a governance model and phased implementation.

4. Insurance policies are not accessible at a single point; Know Your Customer formalities are repeated; claims history is not easily available.

5. The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha Act gives IRDAI a statutory anchor for insurance digitisation.

6. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act provides a data-privacy framework, and Bima Sugam addresses accessibility; PIR is proposed as the connective layer among them.

7. Design principles are drawn from India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure: interoperable but not uniform, with minimalist building blocks and a federated architecture that keeps data at the source rather than centralising it.

8. PIR would let participants discover, verify and exchange insurance information consistently.

9. The governance proposal is to restructure the Insurance Information Bureau into a not-for-profit firm wholly owned by IRDAI, with independent execution, institutional neutrality and rotating industry representation on the board.

10. A phased rollout would focus on early, visible wins.

11. For the policyholder, PIR is proposed to show a consolidated view of life, health, motor and property policies, including nominees, renewals, claims and unclaimed benefits, and to enable portability.

12. Linkages with VAHAN and e-DAR are proposed for motor claim settlement.

13. Insurers would obtain verified policy and claims history; reinsurers and IRDAI would obtain aggregate exposure data.

38. Exchange-Traded Funds and Index Funds: Structure and Cost Differences

1. Passive investing tracks a benchmark index through either an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or an index fund on that index.

2. Benchmarks cited include a large-cap index or a broad investable index such as the NSE 500 Index, which also contains mid-cap and small-cap stocks.

3. The median base expense ratio (BER) stated for an index fund is 0.15%, compared with 0.08% for an ETF.

4. An ETF Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is set up through a trading account.

5. An SIP can be placed with market protection so that the order is not executed at a price significantly greater than the last traded price.

6. If the SIP is for a number of units, the amount debited each month varies; if it is for a fixed amount, a residual may remain because ETFs do not allow fractional units.

7. In the example given, an ETF price of ₹61 and an SIP of ₹10,000 yields 163 units, with ₹57 remaining in the trading account.

8. ETF investors incur demat charges and other costs such as SEBI turnover fees, brokerage commission and exchange transaction fees including GST.

9. Index funds can allot fractional units, so the entire SIP amount can be used, and those transaction charges are not incurred in the same way.

10. ETFs can be sold in real time in the market, with money credited to the bank account the next day.

11. Sale proceeds of index funds take at least two days to reach the investor.

39. Insurance Proposal Forms, Disclosure and IRDAI Free-Look Period

1. An insurance contract is governed by what is written in the proposal form and the policy document, not by oral statements of an agent or broker.

2. The proposer who signs the proposal form is answerable for information entered on it, including errors in address or phone number and concealment of a pre-existing disease.

3. Concealment or a false declaration of facts can lead to delayed policy issuance, a higher premium, rejected renewal notices, or repudiation of a claim.

4. A higher premium after full disclosure is contrasted in the article with a repudiated claim after hospitalisation costing several lakhs.

5. Oral marketing pitches about coverage, terms and conditions, or returns on a unit-linked insurance policy are harder to establish later in a dispute than the written policy.

6. Assurances such as “no sub-limits” or that procedures are covered only after 24 months are to be checked against the policy wording and the list of covered procedures.

7. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) regulations provide a 30-day free-look period for eligible life and health insurance policies from receipt of the policy document.

8. During the free-look period the policyholder may review the document, compare it with what was represented, and make a written cancel request for a refund subject to the rules.

9. The free-look cancellation does not cover every instance of mis-selling, but it is the statutory window to act if the issued policy does not match what was understood at purchase.

40. European Union Proposal on Age-Based Access to Digital Services

1. The European Commission is preparing a proposal, reported as part of the EU Kids Act, on how children access the internet.

2. The plan would restrict children under 15 in creating and using accounts across digital services, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, AI chatbots and online games.

3. Children aged 15 and above would be able to create their own accounts.

4. For children aged 13 and 14, access to social media and video-sharing platforms would require parents to get involved.

5. Parents could create introductory accounts for children, with restrictions on contacts and time spent on the platforms.

6. For children between 3 and 12, accounts would be controlled entirely by parents, and access would be limited to services considered suitable for children and required to meet stronger safety standards.

7. The proposal could potentially ban access to digital platforms for children under 3.

8. The rules would also cover Facebook and AI chatbots, not only Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

9. Major social media applications already set a minimum sign-up age of 13.

10. Platforms could be required to reduce engagement features, limit harmful recommendation feeds, provide tools for children to report inappropriate content, and give parents stronger controls over what children see and how long they spend online.

11. Age verification could be required when a new account is created; online gaming platforms would have to check age before allowing children to download games.

12. A supervisory fee to fund regulatory enforcement and oversight could be levied on technology companies.

13. Exact rules could change before the plan is presented and negotiated with EU governments and the European Parliament.

41. Tulu as an Additional Official Administrative Language in Karnataka

1. The Karnataka Cabinet, meeting in Mangaluru on 18 September, decided to accord additional official (administrative) language status to Tulu.

2. Tulu is commonly spoken in Dakshina Kannada district, southern parts of Udupi district in Karnataka, and northern parts of Kasaragod district in Kerala.

3. The status will apply to administrative matters in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

4. The government will release ₹82 lakh annually for translation, training and language usage.

5. Elected representatives may speak in Tulu at gram sabhas, gram panchayats, taluk panchayats, zilla panchayats, and urban local bodies including city corporation, municipal council and town municipal council meetings.

6. Government circulars and orders issued in the two districts should also contain Tulu; applications may be submitted to government departments in Tulu.

7. On 30 January 2023, a committee was formed to study declaring Tulu as the second official language of Karnataka; it was asked to report in a week.

8. After the Congress government took office, a committee studied procedures used by Andhra Pradesh to grant additional language status to Urdu and submitted a report on 4 March.

9. Article 345 of the Constitution allows a State legislature, subject to Articles 346 and 347, to adopt by law any language in use in the State or Hindi for official purposes.

10. Section 2 of the Karnataka Official Language Act, 1963 states that Kannada is the official language; implementation of the Cabinet decision requires amendment of that Act, approval by the Governor and a notification.

11. Tulu is taught from Class 6 to Class 10 in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi; it was introduced for Class 6 in 2010–11.

12. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner recognises Tulu as an independent language; it is a non-scheduled language and is not in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

42. Copyright Provisions in the Draft India–EU FTA Intellectual Property Chapter

1. The European Commission has formally requested EU member states to approve the signing and conclusion of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement.

2. The draft Intellectual Property Chapter includes detailed copyright provisions.

3. India’s Copyright Act, 1957, is described as being in conformity with the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the TRIPS Agreement.

4. The draft IP Chapter affirms commitments to those treaties but omits the WCT from the National Treatment clause (Article 10.8).

5. The WCT addresses protection of works in the digital environment, including software and databases, and technological protection measures (TPMs).

6. Limitations and exceptions under the FTA (Article 10.21) include a narrow “three-step test” drawn from EU copyright statutes.

7. Article 10.11 of the FTA covers incidental storage of a work or performance in electronic transmission or communication to the public, with civil and criminal remedies.

8. Footnote 1 of Article 10.8(1) expands protection to enforcement against circumvention of TPMs (Article 10.18) and Rights Management Information (Article 10.19).

9. Section 65A of the Copyright Act, 1957, provides exceptions under which technological protection may be circumvented for permitted purposes, including uses under Section 52.

10. Sections 52(1)(ab) and 52(1)(ac) permit engineering students and security researchers to observe, test and reverse-engineer software.

11. Sections 52(1)(b) and 52(1)(c) shield Internet service providers for temporary, transient copies in RAM and server caches; Rule 75 of the Copyright Rules, 2013, sets a notice-and-takedown regime.

12. Agreed Statements to Article 8 and Article 10 of the WCT exempt transient network copies from copyright liability.

43. Permanent Magnets, Rare Earths and India’s Measurement Gap

1. High-performance permanent magnets are used in electric-vehicle motors, semiconductor fabrication facilities and precision manufacturing machinery.

2. Ferrite, Alnico and Samarium-Cobalt magnets continue to serve industrial applications.

3. Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) magnets combine high magnetic strength with a high power-to-weight ratio and are central to energy-transition and advanced manufacturing uses.

4. India has pursued critical minerals and rare-earth strategy through the National Critical Mineral Mission, overseas mineral acquisitions, expanded geological exploration and Production-Linked Incentive schemes.

5. China imposed tight export controls on rare-earth magnets and materials in April 2025.

6. India’s Annual Survey of Industries estimates the domestic permanent magnet market at around ₹750 crore; international trade statistics indicate import values several times larger than that reported market.

7. The gap may reflect differences in statistical coverage, industrial classification or supply-chain accounting.

8. The technological sequence described is: geological exploration, mining, mineral processing, chemical separation, oxides refined into metals, metals transformed into alloys, alloys engineered into magnetic materials, and manufacture of finished magnets.

9. India’s statistical system is described as giving only a partial picture of what is mined, imported and manufactured.

10. An Integrated Techno-Economic Mapping (ITEM) framework is proposed to combine engineering and economic measurement from minerals in the ground to finished products and to locate capability gaps across stages.

44. Tamil Nadu Salt-Reduction Mission and Hypertension Data

1. Salt is an essential electrolyte involved in hydration, nerve signalling, muscle function, digestion and stress physiology.

2. Excess salt increases the risk of stroke, heart disease and kidney strain; it causes the body to retain water, raising blood volume and arterial pressure.

3. Indian Council of Medical Research surveys show that in India men consume an average of 8.9 grams of salt daily and women about 7.1 grams.

4. The World Health Organization recommends keeping intake under 5 grams of salt per day and, in guidelines released in January 2025, recommended lower-sodium salt substitutes.

5. A 2024 study by Selvinayagam T.S. et al. showed adult prevalence of hypertension in Tamil Nadu at around 33.9%, above the national average of 28.5%.

6. The Tamil Nadu Health Minister announced in the Assembly a multi-pronged mission to reduce salt intake.

7. For the first time, a statewide survey using urine samples will measure salt consumption.

8. Salt will be gradually reduced in government-run kitchens, including the Nutritious Meal Programme, ICDS centres, government hospitals and hostels.

9. The feasibility of a low-sodium salt substitute will be examined, backed by a statewide awareness campaign on reading package labels, tasting before adding salt, and using natural flavour enhancers.

10. A randomised, double-blind, controlled trial in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2021 found that replacing salt with a reduced-sodium, added-potassium salt substitute lowered systolic blood pressure in persons with hypertension in rural India.

11. Hypertension control will also use the community outreach programme Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam, with counselling and anti-hypertension drugs for those diagnosed.

12. A 2005 campaign of the World Action on Salt, Sugar and Health was reported to have cut salt in bread in the United Kingdom by 30%.

45. India–China Trade: Import Concentration and Electronics Supply Chains

1. After a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Delhi on 12 September, India said the two sides had underlined the need to address concerns including “structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues”.

2. Bilateral trade touched $167.6 billion in 2025.

3. Data are from the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) of the World Bank with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

4. India’s exports to China remained broadly stagnant between 2021 and 2025, while imports rose from $87.5 billion to $149.5 billion, about 71%.

5. The trade deficit with China widened from $64.5 billion in 2021 to $131.4 billion in 2025 (intermediate figures: $87.2 billion in 2022, $105.7 billion in 2023, $112.1 billion in 2024).

6. Nearly 70% of India’s imports from China in 2025 were intermediate goods and another 22% capital goods; consumption goods were 8.2% and others 0.1%.

7. The combined value of India’s top five import categories from China rose from $19 billion in 2021 to $34.6 billion in 2025, close to one-fourth of total imports from China.

8. Those categories have centred on telecom equipment, laptops, integrated circuits, LED/solar cells, mobile phones and, in 2025, silver.

9. Initiatives cited include Make in India and the Phased Manufacturing Programme.

10. India has emerged as a major hub for mobile-phone assembly; the share of imported parts and components in the import basket rose from 3.3% in 2022 to 10.1% in 2025 (4.7% in 2021, 7.8% in 2023, 9.1% in 2024).

46. Reserve Bank of India Repo Rate, Inflation and Real Policy Rate

1. The Reserve Bank of India is holding the repo rate at 5.25%.

2. The RBI’s inflation target is 4%.

3. Consumer price inflation rose to 4.82% in August from 4.45% in July, the third consecutive month above the 4% target.

4. Food inflation is 5.95%; core inflation is around 4.2%.

5. The RBI has maintained a neutral stance while projecting FY2026-27 inflation at around 5%.

6. If the repo rate remains at 5.25% while inflation expectations move towards 5.25%, the ex-ante real policy rate becomes approximately zero.

7. Renewed conflict in West Asia has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed Brent crude above $100 a barrel, with prices approaching $110.

8. Bank credit growth stood at 19.1% year-on-year at the end of August.

9. Deposit growth reached 17.8% at the end of August, the fastest pace in a decade, partly because of the RBI’s special FCNR(B) mobilisation scheme.

10. The credit-deposit ratio was around 80.3% at the end of August.

11. RBI research on the 2010–2013 high-inflation period found that real returns on savings instruments became negative, household financial savings weakened, demand for gold increased, and the correlation between gold imports and household inflation expectations was estimated at 0.83.

12. The one-year Overnight Indexed Swap rate is around 6%.

13. GDP growth is running at 7.8%.

47. FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026 and NGO Foreign Funding Data

1. The first Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was passed in 1976.

2. The government has proposed the FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026; it is yet to be enacted.

3. The government claims foreign funds to NGOs operate as an opaque flow of unmonitored capital under banners of development, human rights and social welfare.

4. Under the proposed legislation, if an FCRA certificate is cancelled, surrendered or automatically lapses, foreign contributions and assets created from them would vest in a government-appointed “designated authority”.

5. The organisation can recover the assets if registration is restored within the prescribed period; permanent vesting occurs only if registration is not restored.

6. The Bill provides for revision and an appeal to the District Judge.

7. If a fresh certificate is not obtained within the prescribed period, assets could be sold or transferred to a government department, with proceeds going to the Consolidated Fund of India; restoration during provisional vesting returns assets and unused foreign contribution.

8. Ministry of Home Affairs data for September 2026 show FCRA registrations of 22,496 NGOs have been cancelled since 2015, leaving about 14,466 active registered associations eligible to receive foreign contributions.

9. Amounts received are larger than in 2006-07 (₹12,289.6 crore from private international donors).

10. The Forbes 2026 list records 3,332 billionaires worldwide, of whom 229 are in India.

11. The India Philanthropy Report by Bain & Company projected private philanthropy at ₹1.43 lakh crore ($16 billion) in FY 2025, plus retail giving of about ₹37,000 crore annually; the funding gap could reach ₹18 lakh crore ($210 billion) by 2030.

12. Following the Companies Act, 2013, CSR spending by such listed companies was ₹22,563 crore in FY25, up 17.5% (CRISIL).

48. Wildlife Trafficking: Odisha Orangutans and a PNAS Study of Parrot Trade

1. On 8 September, five baby orangutans, each around a year old, were found in a forest in the middle of Odisha, about 2,000 km from rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.

2. Videos later showed them bottle-fed at Bhubaneswar Zoo, where they are being monitored.

3. The Wildlife Trust of India said the animals had been kept in captivity, given their lack of fear of humans.

4. CITES prohibits commercial trade in orangutans; they are sold as exotic pets and can cost up to ₹20 lakh each.

5. India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been asked to investigate.

6. In 2022, two baby orangutans were found abandoned near the Assam–Mizoram border.

7. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences integrated 30 years of confiscation data and spatial network analysis of Mexico’s parrot trade from biodiverse habitats to urban centres.

8. Confiscations of many commonly traded species occurred hundreds of kilometres from native habitats, frequently in major cities such as Mexico City.

9. No less than half of Mexico’s native parrot species are directly threatened by the illegal wildlife trade; poachers targeted high-value species, particularly macaws and Amazon parrots.

10. The paper said drug cartels in Mexico often run illegal logging, sharing transport logistics and laundering illicit timber alongside narcotics.

11. Illegal wildlife trade is described as a global, multibillion-dollar enterprise that threatens biodiversity and can elevate zoonotic disease risk.

12. For India, primates, turtles and lizards are the most smuggled illegal species, primarily through land routes between India and Myanmar.

49. India’s Affordable Diabetes Medicines: Diabetes Care Study

1. A study titled “Making Modern Diabetes Medications Affordable and Accessible: Lessons from India for Other Countries” was published in the journal Diabetes Care.

2. It was led from Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, Chennai.

3. Of 589 million adults in the world with diabetes, 80% live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

4. Modern therapies include GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2i (sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors), which improve cardiovascular and renal outcomes; analogue insulins reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia.

5. Diabetes requires lifelong care and management of complications; affordability remains a barrier.

6. India is a major pharmaceutical exporter; legislation has maintained safeguards against “patent evergreening” and allowed generic manufacture.

7. The country has focused on strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity; global trade policies affect prices and raw-material availability.

8. A government incentive scheme promotes domestic manufacturing of raw materials; as of 2025, production has commenced for 26 molecules that were previously imported.

9. Metformin and sulfonylureas remain the foundation of type 2 diabetes management in India and are on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).

10. DPP-4 inhibitors, SGLT2i and GLP-1 receptor agonists have been introduced but are not currently in the NLEM; initial uptake was constrained by pricing.

11. After competitive entry by multiple domestic manufacturers, the price of semaglutide in India has dropped and sales have risen.

12. Quick availability of generic and biosimilar drugs, Jan Aushadhi Kendras and market competition have supported lower prices.

13. Remaining challenges include urban–rural distribution gaps, quality differences among generics, pharmacovigilance and limited formal evaluation of government schemes on clinical outcomes.

50. Supreme Court Call for a Law on Litigants’ Court Deposits

1. The Supreme Court has said a law is necessary to protect crores deposited by litigants across courts and tribunals during pending appeals.

2. A Bench observed that litigants’ money should be saved from ad-hoc management and called for nationwide legislative reform to standardise how courts and tribunals handle deposits during pending litigation.

3. There are no uniform rules governing court-ordered deposits.

4. A court may direct a litigant to deposit money to obtain a stay while an appeal is heard.

5. Individual courts and tribunals have passed orders on deposits and their investment during pendency of appeals on a case-to-case basis.

6. Huge sums remain entangled in different financial instruments, earning inconsistent interest rates and triggering post-judgment litigation over interest-accounting.

7. Inflation and economic uncertainties add to anxiety about rates of interest on the deposits.

8. The Bench said clarity and uniformity in the method of handling a deposit are required to preserve the economic integrity of the deposit and the accrual of interest.

9. Lack of common standards leads to repeated determinations on investment, renewal, quantum, accounting and interest, increasing the burden on courts and tribunals and adding to pendency.

10. The Court pointed to the United States’ Court Registry Investment System, under which deposits are pooled into one unified scheme and placed in beneficial financial instruments.

11. It requested the Law Commission of India to examine the issues and laws enacted in other countries, and to consult the Reserve Bank of India, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Law and Justice.

12. The judgment copy is to be forwarded to the Law Commission chairperson, the RBI Governor, and the Secretaries of Finance and of Law and Justice.