Current Affairs — 23 September 2026

1. Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and India's 2029 Drug-Free Target

Basic Concept

Drug trafficking and abuse fall under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and are a core concern of Internal Security (GS Paper 3). India's National Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) coordinates enforcement across states, while the Ministry of Home Affairs periodically convenes State/UT Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTFs) to align central and state drug-control machinery, since "police" and "public order" are State List subjects but narcotics control also has significant central and international dimensions (UN conventions, cross-border trafficking).

Core Context

At the 3rd National ANTF Conference held in Delhi in September 2026, the Union Home Minister announced a firm target of December 31, 2029 to eliminate the drug trade from India, linking a drug-free society to the vision of a Viksit Bharat. The conference, themed "United Resolve, Shared Responsibility," marked a strategic shift from a seizure-centric approach to one focused on dismantling entire trafficking networks, including financiers and cartels.

Latest Developments

• Districts nationwide have been categorised into three types for targeted action: Manufacturing & Origin districts, Transit Corridor districts, and Consumption Hub districts.

• Over 46,780 Nashamukt Bharat Abhiyan volunteers ("Nashamukt Mitras") have been deployed so far, against a target of 1 lakh community-level volunteers.

• Directions were issued for intensified preventive detention of habitual traffickers, faster deportation of foreign nationals involved in trafficking, and closer coordination with Interpol for cross-border extradition.

• The approach integrates supply-side action (seizures, network dismantling) with demand-side reduction (de-addiction, community awareness) under the Nashamukt Bharat Abhiyan.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The NDPS Act, 1985 is the principal law governing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in India.

• The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is the nodal agency for drug law enforcement in India, set up in 1986.

• "Nashamukt Bharat Abhiyan" is India's flagship de-addiction and drug-demand-reduction campaign.

2. Karnataka Assembly's Resolution Against the Kasturirangan Report on Western Ghats

Basic Concept

The Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biodiversity, span six states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Following large-scale ecological degradation and disasters attributed to unregulated land use, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change set up a High-Level Working Group under Dr. K. Kasturirangan in 2012, which submitted its report in April 2013 after the earlier, more stringent Gadgil Committee (Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel) report of 2011 faced state-level opposition.

Core Context

The Kasturirangan report demarcated 188 talukas spread across the six Western Ghats states (a total area of about 1,64,280 sq. km) and recommended that roughly 60,000 sq. km — about 37% of this area, representing nearly 90% of the remaining contiguous natural landscape — be notified as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). In September 2026, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the report's recommendations in their present form, citing concerns over the livelihoods of farmers and forest-dwelling communities in the affected talukas, and urged the Union Government to revise the boundaries after fresh, ground-truthed consultation.

Latest Developments

• Key restrictions proposed for ESAs include a complete ban on new mining leases, quarrying and thermal power plants; permission for run-of-the-river hydropower projects only under strict conditions; and a ban on new townships larger than 20,000 sq. metres.

• This is not the first such resolution — Karnataka and Kerala have both previously sought dilution or deferment of the ESA notification, reflecting a recurring Centre-State friction over environmental federalism.

• Environmentalists warn that repeated deferment of a final ESA notification (in force only in draft/interim form since 2014) leaves the Western Ghats vulnerable to continued unregulated construction, mining and land-use change, heightening landslide and flood risks seen in recent years.

• The debate illustrates the classic conservation-versus-livelihood dilemma central to India's environmental governance and is a recurring UPSC Mains theme.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Kasturirangan Committee report (2013) recommended about 37% of the Western Ghats' total area as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).

• The Gadgil Committee (Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel), 2011, had recommended a much larger area (about 64%) as ecologically sensitive, and was more stringent than the Kasturirangan report.

• The Western Ghats span six states: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and are recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

3. Planetary Health Check 2026: Seven of Nine Planetary Boundaries Breached

Basic Concept

The Planetary Boundaries framework, first proposed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre in 2009, identifies nine interlinked Earth-system processes — climate change, biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus), ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol loading, and novel entities (e.g., plastics, chemical pollutants) — within which humanity can operate safely. Crossing a boundary does not mean immediate catastrophe, but it signals rising risk of destabilising the relatively stable Holocene-like conditions that have supported human civilisation, a theme relevant to GS Paper 3 (Environment/Ecology) and sustainable development discussions.

Core Context

The Planetary Health Check 2026 report, released by an international consortium of Earth-system scientists, found that seven of the nine planetary boundaries have now been transgressed — up from six a few years earlier — with climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, and novel entities assessed as "strongly" breached. Only stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading remain within their safe operating limits.

Latest Developments

• The report stresses that these boundaries are deeply interconnected — for instance, biosphere integrity loss (biodiversity decline) worsens climate resilience, while nitrogen and phosphorus pollution (biogeochemical flows) drives both freshwater degradation and biodiversity loss.

• Scientists warn of the possibility of cascading tipping points, where crossing one boundary accelerates the crossing of others, increasing the risk of abrupt, hard-to-reverse shifts in Earth's systems.

• The assessment is seen as a scientific input feeding into global negotiations such as UNFCCC climate talks and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's implementation review.

• India's own developmental trajectory is repeatedly cited in such assessments given its large population and resource footprint, making sustainable, resource-efficient growth pathways a key policy priority.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Planetary Boundaries framework was first proposed in 2009 by a team led by Johan Rockström at the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

• There are nine planetary boundaries in total; the Planetary Health Check 2026 found seven of them transgressed.

• Only stratospheric ozone depletion and atmospheric aerosol loading currently remain within safe limits, per the 2026 assessment.

4. Biovigilance Programme of India

Basic Concept

Pharmacovigilance — the science of monitoring the effects of medicines after they are licensed for use — is a well-established concept in India through the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI). Biovigilance extends this same principle of post-marketing surveillance to biological products and procedures: organ and tissue transplantation, blood transfusion, and the use of biologics, where adverse events in a donor or recipient must be tracked systematically. This falls under GS Paper 2/3 (Health infrastructure and governance).

Core Context

The Biovigilance Programme of India, coordinated by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) — the same body that runs the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India — was highlighted for building a national surveillance framework to capture and analyse adverse events associated with the transplantation of organs and tissues, covering both donors and recipients.

Latest Developments

• The programme integrates the existing pharmacovigilance framework with biovigilance, creating a unified national safety-monitoring architecture for biological interventions.

• It supports India's expanding organ transplantation ecosystem, which faces persistent challenges of an organ shortage relative to demand, regulated centrally through bodies like the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO).

• Systematic biovigilance data can help identify patterns of transplant-related complications, informing safer clinical protocols and regulatory standards.

• The initiative reflects India's broader push to strengthen post-market surveillance systems across the health sector, alongside drug and medical-device vigilance.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), headquartered in Ghaziabad, coordinates both the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and the Biovigilance Programme of India.

• NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) is India's apex body for organ and tissue transplantation and procurement.

• Biovigilance specifically covers adverse events related to biological products/procedures such as organ and tissue transplants, distinct from pharmacovigilance's focus on drugs.

5. Supreme Court: No Penal Consequences for Refusing to Sing the National Song

Basic Concept

India has both a National Anthem ("Jana Gana Mana," adopted 1950) and a National Song ("Vande Mataram," from Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Anandmath, accorded equal status with the anthem by the Constituent Assembly in 1950) — a distinction UPSC aspirants must not confuse. Article 25 guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion, subject to public order, morality and health. The landmark 1986 Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala case had already held that students who stood respectfully but did not sing the National Anthem for religious/conscientious reasons could not be expelled, since there is no legal compulsion to sing the anthem, only to show respect (GS Paper 2 — Fundamental Rights).

Core Context

Hearing a challenge (in the case involving Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna) to circulars promoting mandatory singing of Vande Mataram, the Supreme Court observed that "conscientious objectors" — those who decline to sing it in full for genuine religious or personal-belief reasons — cannot be subjected to penal action, extending the logic of the Bijoe Emmanuel precedent from the National Anthem to the National Song.

Latest Developments

• The Court clarified that showing respect (such as standing) when the National Song is played or sung is different from a compulsion to sing it oneself.

• The ruling is significant for balancing constitutional patriotism obligations with individual freedom of conscience under Article 25, particularly relevant for religious minorities who have raised conscientious objections to specific verses.

• The case reflects a recurring constitutional theme: symbolic expressions of nationalism (anthem, song, flag) are protected, but the state cannot criminalise a citizen's sincere conscientious dissent absent any disrespect or public disorder.

• This builds on a line of precedent, including the National Anthem case (Bijoe Emmanuel, 1986) and later rulings on mandatory anthem-playing in cinema halls (2016-2018), where the Court progressively narrowed compulsion while retaining an expectation of respect.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• "Vande Mataram" is India's National Song; "Jana Gana Mana" is the National Anthem — both were accorded this status by the Constituent Assembly in 1950.

• Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986) held that students cannot be expelled for not singing the National Anthem if they stand respectfully, citing freedom of conscience under Article 25.

• Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

6. Supreme Court Strengthens Safeguards Around Arrest and Re-arrest

Basic Concept

Article 22 of the Constitution provides protection against arbitrary arrest and detention — every arrested person must be informed of the grounds of arrest as soon as possible, has the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of choice, and must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours (excluding travel time). These safeguards, along with statutory provisions in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS, replacing the CrPC), aim to prevent misuse of police power and are a recurring GS Paper 2 theme on fundamental rights and criminal justice reform.

Core Context

In Jaskaran Jeet Singh Deol v. State of Punjab, the Supreme Court held that failure to properly communicate the grounds of arrest to the accused in a comprehensible manner renders the arrest and subsequent detention illegal. The Court further ruled that where a person has been released (e.g., on bail or after an earlier arrest is quashed), a fresh re-arrest on the same or related grounds cannot be carried out by police at will — it requires explicit judicial (magisterial) approval.

Latest Developments

• The judgment builds on a series of recent Supreme Court rulings (including in cases involving the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) tightening procedural safeguards against arbitrary arrest by investigating agencies.

• It reinforces that grounds of arrest must be communicated in a language and manner the arrested person actually understands, not merely as a formality.

• The ruling curbs a practice sometimes used by investigating agencies to re-arrest an accused immediately after a court grants bail or quashes an earlier arrest, effectively circumventing judicial relief.

• Legal experts view this as part of a broader judicial trend strengthening Article 21 (life and personal liberty) protections within the criminal justice process.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Article 22 of the Constitution provides safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention, including the right to be informed of grounds of arrest and produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.

• The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 has replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, as India's criminal procedure law.

• Jaskaran Jeet Singh Deol v. State of Punjab (2026) held that re-arrest without explicit magisterial approval is impermissible.

7. Reported Rift in the Election Commission: Commissioners' Recorded Objections

Basic Concept

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a multi-member constitutional body under Article 324, currently comprising the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners, all with equal voting power in decision-making under the Election Commission (Conduct of Business) Rules. Historically, the Commission has functioned largely by consensus, and the rare instances of recorded dissent (such as during T.N. Seshan's tenure) have drawn public attention, since ECI proceedings are not routinely made public — a recurring GS Paper 2 theme on the independence and functioning of constitutional bodies.

Core Context

A media investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections on record 14 times over a 10-month period on decisions taken under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, including on aspects of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission publicly responded that differing views before a final decision are a normal part of internal deliberation and do not amount to formal "dissent."

Latest Developments

• The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — an intensive, door-to-door re-verification exercise first rolled out in Bihar and subsequently other states — has itself been politically contentious, with opposition parties alleging it risks large-scale, arbitrary voter deletions.

• The Election Commission's official position distinguishes between internal deliberative objections (normal and expected) and formal recorded dissent that would go on the Commission's official minutes.

• Opposition parties have used the report to renew calls for greater transparency in ECI's internal proceedings and have separately raised the issue before the Supreme Court in ongoing SIR-related litigation.

• The episode underscores the delicate balance between the ECI's constitutionally mandated independence/collegiality and the need for institutional transparency and accountability, especially given its centrality to free and fair elections.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Election Commission of India functions under Article 324 of the Constitution and currently has a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.

• The Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Act, 2023 governs the appointment process for the CEC and ECs.

• Special Intensive Revision (SIR) refers to an intensive door-to-door revision of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission.

8. National Single Window System Completes Five Years

Basic Concept

Ease of Doing Business reforms are a key GS Paper 3 (Economy/Governance) theme. Before single-window systems, investors had to approach dozens of central and state departments separately for licences, registrations and NOCs — a major source of regulatory friction. The National Single Window System, launched to integrate India's fragmented approval landscape, acts as a digital front-end that routes applications to the concerned regulatory authority without itself transferring statutory/regulatory power, using PAN as the Single Business Identifier.

Core Context

The National Single Window System, launched on 22 September 2021, completed five years of operation. As of 2026 it covers 32 Central Ministries/Departments and 34 States/Union Territories, offering access to over 327 Central and 3,452 State-level approvals through a single digital interface, and has onboarded 5.69 lakh business entities to date.

Latest Developments

• On average, the platform receives about 3.06 lakh applications and facilitates about 2.26 lakh approvals annually.

• Authentication is enabled through Digital Signature Certificates (DSC), and recent integrations include the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM), Industrial Licences, and the Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP).

• The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) has achieved complete transaction-level integration with all 74 of its licensing modules on the NSWS, one of the deepest single-department integrations so far.

• The initiative supports India's broader Ease of Doing Business and Make in India goals by cutting approval timelines and reducing the compliance burden on new investors, both domestic and foreign.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The National Single Window System was launched on 22 September 2021 by Invest India under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

• NSWS uses PAN as the Single Business Identifier (ID) for entities seeking approvals.

• PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation) has achieved full integration of all its licensing modules with the NSWS.

9. 11th Ayurveda Day 2026

Basic Concept

Ayurveda, one of India's traditional systems of medicine (AYUSH: Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy), is administered by the Ministry of Ayush, a separate Union Ministry created in 2014 to mainstream and modernise traditional medicine. Ayurveda Day has been observed annually since 2016 on Dhanteras, but was shifted to align with the autumnal equinox (23 September) to underline its scientific, seasonal (Ritucharya) basis — relevant to GS Paper 1 (Indian heritage) and GS Paper 2 (health policy/governance).

Core Context

The 11th Ayurveda Day was observed on 23 September 2026 with the theme "Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow." The Ministry of Ayush highlighted that its Union Budget 2026-27 allocation stands at ₹4,408 crore, and that 12,260 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AYUSH-integrated health and wellness centres) are now operational against a target of 12,500.

Latest Developments

• India has 593 Ayurveda colleges offering 45,245 undergraduate and 5,673 postgraduate seats, supported by 25,322 registered Ayush doctors and 5,666 paramedics.

• Cumulative funds released for Ayush infrastructure and schemes between 2014-15 and 2025-26 stand at ₹6,406.99 crore.

• AYUSH services are now co-located in 13,249 public health facilities, integrating traditional and modern care delivery at the primary level.

• A major milestone is the WHO's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) now including a dedicated Traditional Medicine Module, enabling standardised global coding of Ayurvedic diagnoses for the first time — a significant step for Ayurveda's international recognition and interoperability with modern health records.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Ayurveda Day is now observed on the autumnal equinox (23 September) rather than on Dhanteras, its earlier date of observance.

• The Ministry of Ayush was carved out as a separate Union Ministry in 2014.

• WHO's ICD-11 (11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases) has incorporated a Traditional Medicine Module covering Ayurveda.

10. Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) Summit and India's UNSC Bid

Basic Concept

Reform of global governance institutions, especially the UN Security Council (UNSC), is a long-standing GS Paper 2 (International Relations) theme. The UNSC's five permanent members (P5 — US, UK, France, Russia, China) reflect the post-World War II power structure of 1945 and have not been updated despite India's rise as a major economy and the world's most populous country. India has long campaigned for UNSC reform through platforms like the G4 (India, Japan, Germany, Brazil) and now increasingly through broader coalition-building with regional groupings such as the Visegrad Four (V4: Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia).

Core Context

On the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session in September 2026, India co-sponsored the inaugural Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) Summit along with Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Kenya and the European Union, aimed at building a broad coalition for institutional reform of global governance bodies. Separately, the first-ever V4+India Foreign Ministers' meeting was held, at which the Visegrad Four nations unanimously backed India's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Latest Developments

• India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar remained heavily engaged through the UNGA week, using the P4M and V4+India platforms to argue that the "global order is under stress" and needs "reformed multilateralism" reflecting today's geopolitical and economic realities rather than 1945.

• The V4+India format marks a new diplomatic outreach to Central Europe, a region where India has traditionally had limited high-level engagement compared to Western Europe.

• UNSC reform remains stalled due to the need for consensus among P5 members, several of whom (especially China) have historically been lukewarm or opposed to expanding permanent membership.

• Coalition diplomacy of this kind — building issue-based partnerships across the Global North and Global South — reflects India's evolving foreign policy doctrine of multi-alignment and its aspiration for a larger role in global governance commensurate with its economic and demographic weight.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The UN Security Council's five permanent members (P5) are the USA, UK, France, Russia and China.

• The G4 nations campaigning together for permanent UNSC seats are India, Japan, Germany and Brazil.

• The Visegrad Four (V4) comprises Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia.

11. IAF's September Exercise Calendar: Veer Guardian 2026 Concludes, Tarang Shakti 2026 Begins

Basic Concept

Joint and multinational military exercises are a key instrument of India's defence diplomacy, building interoperability with partner air forces and showcasing indigenous capability, and are a recurring GS Paper 3 (Defence & Security) theme. Bilateral exercises (like Veer Guardian with Japan) deepen specific strategic partnerships, while larger multinational exercises (like Tarang Shakti) bring together multiple air forces at once, serving both military interoperability and defence-diplomacy/soft-power goals.

Core Context

The IAF's joint air defence Exercise Veer Guardian 2026 with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force concluded in September 2026, with both sides noting enhanced interoperability between the two air forces. Days later, the IAF prepared to host the second edition of Exercise Tarang Shakti — a large multinational air exercise — at Jodhpur air base beginning 26 September 2026.

Latest Developments

• Tarang Shakti 2026's second edition is notable for featuring the American F-35 stealth fighter making its exercise debut on Indian soil, flying alongside the French Rafale and the American F-16, among other participating aircraft types.

• The exercise is intended to showcase the growing capabilities of India's domestic aerospace industry to visiting international air forces, alongside building multinational interoperability.

• Veer Guardian, a bilateral exercise series with Japan, reflects the deepening India-Japan defence partnership under the broader Special Strategic and Global Partnership framework between the two countries.

• The IAF's first edition of Tarang Shakti was held in 2024 (in two phases, at Sulur/Coimbatore and Jodhpur); the concept has since been institutionalised as a recurring multinational air exercise hosted by India.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Exercise Tarang Shakti is a multinational air exercise hosted by India; its first edition was held in 2024, and the second edition begins in Jodhpur in September 2026.

• Exercise Veer Guardian is a bilateral joint air defence exercise between the Indian Air Force and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

• The F-35 fighter jet's participation in Tarang Shakti 2026 marks its exercise debut in India.

12. Rising Antifungal Resistance in India: The Candida auris Challenge

Basic Concept

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) — where bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve to resist the drugs designed to kill them — is recognised by the WHO as one of the top global public health threats. While antibiotic (bacterial) resistance dominates public discourse, antifungal resistance is an emerging and under-recognised dimension, particularly relevant to GS Paper 3 (Science & Technology, Health) given India's high burden of hospital-acquired infections and heavy antimicrobial usage.

Core Context

Candida auris, a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen first identified in 2009, has been spreading rapidly through Indian Intensive Care Units (ICUs), where it causes bloodstream infections with a reported mortality rate of 30-40% among critically ill patients. Alarmingly, over 90% of Indian C. auris isolates studied are now resistant to azole antifungals, the first-line treatment class.

Latest Developments

• Three distinct resistance mechanisms have been identified in Indian isolates: gene duplication (producing more of the drug target so the drug becomes less effective), genetic mutation (altering the drug's binding site), and the "eagle effect" (paradoxical growth of the fungus at higher drug concentrations).

• C. auris is notoriously difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods and can persist on hospital surfaces and medical equipment for extended periods, making infection control especially challenging.

• It disproportionately affects immunocompromised and critically ill patients, including those on ventilators, with central lines, or on broad-spectrum antibiotics — all common in ICU settings.

• The trend underscores the need to expand India's National Action Plan on AMR (NAP-AMR) beyond antibacterial resistance to systematically include antifungal stewardship, surveillance and diagnostics.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen first identified in 2009.

• Over 90% of Indian Candida auris isolates studied show resistance to azole antifungals.

• India's National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) is the country's overarching policy framework to combat AMR, including antibacterial and antifungal resistance.

13. World Rhino Day 2026 and the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros

Basic Concept

The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the largest of the Asian rhino species, is found mainly in the Brahmaputra floodplains of Assam, along with smaller populations in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh (Dudhwa) and Bihar (Valmiki Tiger Reserve). It is identified by its single keratin horn (20-60 cm), thick armour-like skin with deep folds, and largely solitary behaviour, communicating through communal dung-piling sites called middens. It is a GS Paper 3 (Biodiversity/Species Conservation) staple, listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List (downgraded from "Endangered" in 2008 following sustained conservation gains) and under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Core Context

World Rhino Day, observed globally on 22 September, highlighted that India's Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros population has risen to about 4,075 individuals, with Assam alone harbouring nearly 80% (over 4,000) of the world's population — a conservation success attributed to sustained anti-poaching efforts, including Assam achieving zero rhino poaching in 2025. This contrasts with the global picture, where the White Rhino population (Africa) has declined to about 15,752 individuals amid persistent poaching pressure, out of a total global rhino population (across all five species) of roughly 26,700.

Latest Developments

• Key Indian conservation initiatives include Project Rhino and Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV2020), aimed at genetically viable, geographically distributed rhino populations across Assam's protected areas, including Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang and Manas National Parks.

• Kaziranga National Park alone hosts the majority of Assam's — and hence the world's — Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros population.

• Global rhino conservation still contends with severe poaching pressure driven by demand for rhino horn in illegal wildlife trade networks, particularly in parts of East and Southeast Asia.

• India's zero-poaching achievement in Assam (2025) is a notable data point given the historical severity of poaching in Kaziranga and surrounding landscapes.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros is IUCN "Vulnerable" (downgraded from "Endangered" in 2008) and listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Assam hosts nearly 80% of the world's Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros population, concentrated largely in Kaziranga National Park.

• World Rhino Day is observed on 22 September every year.

14. Kathmandu Declaration Under SAWEN: Combating Wildlife Trafficking in South Asia

Basic Concept

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) — encompassing poaching and trafficking of species and their derivatives such as ivory, rhino horn, tiger parts and pangolin scales — is a transnational organised crime problem requiring cross-border cooperation, making it a recurring GS Paper 3 (Environment/Internal Security) topic. The South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), established in 2011 as an inter-governmental body headquartered in Kathmandu, brings together South Asian countries (including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan) to coordinate enforcement against wildlife crime, complementing global platforms like CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and INTERPOL's wildlife crime programmes.

Core Context

SAWEN member countries adopted the Kathmandu Declaration, committing to deeper regional cooperation to combat illegal wildlife trade through coordinated financial investigations (tracing the money trail behind trafficking networks, similar to anti-money-laundering approaches), enhanced technology-enabled intelligence-sharing, and stronger training for enforcement personnel.

Latest Developments

• The Declaration designates 30 January as "SAWEN Day" to raise regional public awareness of wildlife crime and enforcement cooperation.

• Key provisions include anti-money-laundering measures targeted specifically at wildlife trafficking proceeds, cross-border real-time intelligence coordination among member states' enforcement agencies, capacity building for forest rangers and border officials, and demand-reduction campaigns targeting consumer markets for wildlife products.

• The financial-investigation approach mirrors global best practice recognising that wildlife trafficking, like narcotics and human trafficking, is often run by organised criminal syndicates whose financial networks can be disrupted more effectively than piecemeal seizures.

• For India, this complements domestic efforts under the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and strengthens the country's ability to tackle trafficking routes that frequently cross the Nepal and Bangladesh borders.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• SAWEN (South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network) was established in 2011 and is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.

• The Kathmandu Declaration designates 30 January as SAWEN Day.

• India's Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), set up under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (amended 2006), is the nodal domestic body for combating wildlife crime.

15. New Additions to India's UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Basic Concept

The UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List is the first formal step before a site can be nominated for full World Heritage inscription — countries must place a property on this list (typically for at least a year) before submitting a formal nomination dossier. India currently has 43 sites on its Tentative List and 43 inscribed World Heritage Sites (as of recent counts), making this a regularly updated and exam-relevant GS Paper 1 (Art & Culture/Heritage) topic.

Core Context

India added four new sites to its UNESCO Tentative List: the Colonial Penal Settlement in the Andaman Islands, the Rangpur-Sivasagar Historic Ensemble in Assam, and sites reflecting Nicobarese cultural continuity in the Central Nicobar Islands (the fourth being part of this Nicobarese cultural nomination).

Latest Developments

• The Colonial Penal Settlement comprises four interconnected sites — Chatham Island, Ross Island, Viper Island and the Cellular Jail — with the Cellular Jail (built 1896-1906) notable for its panopticon architecture and 693 solitary cells, historically used to incarcerate Indian freedom fighters.

• The Rangpur-Sivasagar Historic Ensemble in Assam represents the 18th-century capital of the Tai-Ahom kingdom, with a nearly 600-year legacy, featuring the 32-metre Sivadol temple and the Rang Ghar amphitheatre (often cited as one of Asia's oldest amphitheatres), along with sophisticated hydraulic engineering works.

• The Nicobarese cultural continuity nomination covers distinctive living traditions of the Central Nicobar Islands, including stilted beehive-shaped huts, wheel-less pottery-making techniques, ancestral guardian paintings called Hentakoi, and traditional community calendar systems.

• Inclusion on the Tentative List does not guarantee eventual World Heritage inscription but signals a site's recognised Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) potential and is often an important step in mobilising conservation attention and resources.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• A site must generally be on a country's UNESCO Tentative List before it can be formally nominated for World Heritage inscription.

• The Cellular Jail in Port Blair, part of the new Colonial Penal Settlement nomination, was built between 1896 and 1906 and had 693 solitary cells in a panopticon design.

• The Rang Ghar amphitheatre, part of the Ahom-era Rangpur-Sivasagar ensemble in Assam, is often described as one of the oldest amphitheatres in Asia.

16. RBI Absorbs ₹75,026 Crore via Overnight VRRR Auction Amid Surplus Liquidity

Basic Concept

Liquidity management is a core RBI function under its monetary policy framework, aimed at keeping short-term money-market interest rates aligned with the policy repo rate. When banks hold surplus cash beyond their requirements, the RBI conducts Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auctions to absorb this excess liquidity by borrowing from banks at a market-determined (variable) rate for a short tenure, preventing surplus liquidity from causing money-market rates to drift too far below the repo rate — a recurring GS Paper 3 (Economy/Monetary Policy) concept.

Core Context

The RBI conducted an overnight VRRR auction on 23 September 2026, absorbing ₹75,026 crore from the banking system, reflecting continued surplus liquidity conditions. This follows a series of similar liquidity-absorption operations through September 2026 as systemic liquidity has remained in surplus of several lakh crore rupees.

Latest Developments

• Surplus liquidity in the banking system has been attributed to factors such as government spending, foreign exchange inflows, and the durable liquidity injected through the RBI's earlier open market operations (OMOs) and cash reserve ratio (CRR) actions.

• VRRR auctions are a short-term (typically overnight to a few days) liquidity-absorption tool, distinct from the RBI's Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) and longer-tenure reverse repo operations.

• Managing surplus liquidity effectively helps keep the weighted average call rate (WACR) — the operating target of RBI's monetary policy — close to the repo rate, ensuring monetary policy transmission works as intended.

• Frequent, sizeable VRRR absorptions indicate the RBI's active, near-continuous liquidity calibration in response to evolving banking-system cash conditions rather than a one-off intervention.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• A Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auction is used by the RBI to absorb surplus liquidity from the banking system by borrowing from banks at a market-determined rate.

• The Weighted Average Call Rate (WACR) is the operating target of RBI's monetary policy under its liquidity management framework.

• The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) is a distinct, collateral-free tool the RBI uses to absorb liquidity, introduced in April 2022.

17. Practice MCQs

Practice MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the Kasturirangan Committee report on the Western Ghats:
1. It recommended that approximately 37% of the total Western Ghats area be declared an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
2. It recommended a larger ESA area than the earlier Gadgil Committee (Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel) report.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only

• (b) 2 only

• (c) Both 1 and 2

• (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (a) 1 only

Explanation: The Kasturirangan report (2013) recommended about 37% (~60,000 sq. km) of the Western Ghats as ESA, which is a smaller area than the earlier Gadgil Committee report (2011), which had recommended a much larger extent (~64%) as ecologically sensitive. Hence Statement 2 is incorrect.

Q2. The "Planetary Boundaries" framework, which found seven of nine boundaries transgressed in the Planetary Health Check 2026 report, was first proposed by scientists associated with which of the following?

• (a) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

• (b) Stockholm Resilience Centre

• (c) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• (d) World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

Answer: (b) Stockholm Resilience Centre

Explanation: The Planetary Boundaries framework was first proposed in 2009 by a team of scientists led by Johan Rockström at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, identifying nine Earth-system processes critical to maintaining a stable, Holocene-like planetary state.

Q3. With reference to the Supreme Court's observations on India's National Song, consider the following statements:
1. "Vande Mataram" and "Jana Gana Mana" were both accorded equal status by the Constituent Assembly in 1950.
2. The Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986) case dealt with compulsory singing of the National Song.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only

• (b) 2 only

• (c) Both 1 and 2

• (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (a) 1 only

Explanation: Statement 1 is correct — the Constituent Assembly in 1950 accorded equal status to "Vande Mataram" (National Song) and "Jana Gana Mana" (National Anthem). Statement 2 is incorrect — Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986) concerned students who did not sing the National Anthem (not the National Song) for religious reasons; the Supreme Court's 2026 observations on the National Song extended this same principle.

Q4. Article 22 of the Constitution of India provides for which of the following safeguards to an arrested person?
1. Right to be informed of the grounds of arrest as soon as possible.
2. Right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of choice.
3. Right to be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of arrest, excluding travel time.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

• (a) 1 and 2 only

• (b) 2 and 3 only

• (c) 1 and 3 only

• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Explanation: Article 22 provides all three safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention: being informed of the grounds of arrest, the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of choice, and production before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours (excluding journey time). The Supreme Court's recent ruling in Jaskaran Jeet Singh Deol v. State of Punjab reinforced these protections.

Q5. The National Single Window System (NSWS), which recently completed five years of operation, is administered under which of the following?

• (a) Ministry of Corporate Affairs

• (b) Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)

• (c) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

• (d) NITI Aayog

Answer: (b) Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)

Explanation: The National Single Window System was launched on 22 September 2021 by Invest India under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to integrate central and state approvals for investors on a single digital platform.

Q6. Consider the following statements about the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros:
1. It is listed as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List.
2. Assam accounts for nearly 80% of its global population.
3. It is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 and 2 only

• (b) 2 and 3 only

• (c) 1 and 3 only

• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Explanation: The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros is currently listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List (downgraded from "Endangered" in 2008 due to conservation success), not "Critically Endangered" — so Statement 1 is incorrect. Assam does host nearly 80% of the global population (Statement 2 correct), and the species is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (Statement 3 correct).

Q7. The South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), recently in the news for adopting the Kathmandu Declaration, is headquartered in which city?

• (a) New Delhi, India

• (b) Kathmandu, Nepal

• (c) Dhaka, Bangladesh

• (d) Colombo, Sri Lanka

Answer: (b) Kathmandu, Nepal

Explanation: SAWEN (South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network), established in 2011 as a regional inter-governmental network to combat wildlife crime, is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. Its recent Kathmandu Declaration focuses on financial investigations and technology-enabled intelligence-sharing against wildlife trafficking.