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7 September 2026 Current Affairs (With PDF)

We bring you the most relevant and important news updates from around the world and India, specially curated for competitive exams and different entrance exams. Today's Current Affairs cover all significant national and international headlines, legal updates, economic news, and environmental highlights to boost your preparation. With our crisp, to-the-point coverage, you can confidently tackle current affairs questions in your exam.

Minilateralism: A New Pathway for International Cooperation?

Why in News?

The growing inability of traditional multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO) to overcome geopolitical divisions and consensus-related deadlocks has increased interest in minilateral arrangements as more flexible platforms for international cooperation.

What is Minilateralism?

Minilateralism refers to cooperation involving a limited number of countries or organisations that come together to address a particular problem, achieve a shared objective or pursue common strategic interests.
Unlike universal multilateral institutions, minilateral frameworks generally involve fewer participants and a narrower agenda.

1. Examples

Quad – India, Australia, Japan and the United States.
BRICS – cooperation among major emerging economies.
G20 – forum bringing together major economies to address global economic and financial issues.

2. Origin of the Concept

The term “minilateralism” is associated with international political economist Miles Kahler.
Kahler introduced the concept into academic discussions in 1992.

Key Features of Minilateralism

Limited Membership: A smaller group of participating states can reduce the complexity associated with negotiating among a large number of countries.
Issue-Specific Cooperation: Minilateral platforms can be created around clearly defined concerns such as Maritime security, Climate action, Supply-chain resilience, Critical technologies, Counter-terrorism., Health emergencies.
Greater Flexibility: Unlike treaty-based universal institutions, many minilateral arrangements can operate through flexible and less institutionalised mechanisms.
Faster Decision-Making: A smaller membership can facilitate Fewer negotiating interests → Easier coordination → Faster decisions → Quicker implementation
Capability-Based Partnerships: Countries can choose partners according to shared interests, strategic convergence or complementary capabilities, rather than universal membership.

Why is Minilateralism Gaining Importance?

1. Paralysis in Multilateral Institutions

Large international institutions increasingly face Geopolitical rivalries, Difficulties in achieving consensus, Institutional disagreements, Slow decision-making.
This creates incentives for states to pursue cooperation through smaller platforms.

2. Growing Geopolitical Competition

Strategic differences among major powers have made universal consensus increasingly difficult.
Minilateral frameworks allow countries to cooperate with a select group of partners despite wider geopolitical disagreements.

3. Need for Rapid Responses

Emerging challenges often require timely action.
Smaller coalitions can potentially respond more rapidly because they avoid prolonged negotiations involving dozens or even hundreds of participants.

4. Convergence of Strategic Interests

Countries may cooperate when they share specific interests even if they differ on other issues.
For instance, states may collaborate on Maritime domain awareness, Infrastructure, Technology, Disaster management, Supply chains.
Thus, minilateralism enables “cooperation without complete strategic convergence.”

Parameter	Multilateralism	Minilateralism
Membership	Broad/universal	Limited
Agenda	Often wide-ranging	Usually focused
Decision-making	Can be slower	Generally faster
Flexibility	Relatively lower	Relatively higher
Representation	More inclusive	More selective
Consensus	Difficult with large membership	Easier among smaller groups
Legitimacy	Broad-based	May be narrower

Limitations of Minilateralism

1. Coordination Becomes Difficult as Membership Expands

The effectiveness of a minilateral arrangement can decline when its membership becomes too large.

More members introduce diverse priorities.
Divergent interests complicate negotiations.
Consensus may become increasingly difficult.

Example: The expansion of BRICS illustrates the challenge of balancing a larger and more diverse membership.

2. Question of Inclusiveness

The smaller membership that makes minilateralism efficient can simultaneously create concerns regarding Representation, Inclusiveness.
Participation of smaller or developing states.

Countries outside the arrangement may have little influence over decisions affecting them.

3. Fragmentation of Global Governance

An excessive shift towards multiple small coalitions could produce a patchwork of overlapping institutions and arrangements.
This may Duplicate existing mechanisms, Create competing standards, Weaken universal institutions, Make global governance more fragmented.

4. Limited Legitimacy

Minilateral platforms may lack the universal representation and formal legal authority associated with institutions such as the United Nations.
This becomes particularly important when decisions concern: Global peace and security, International trade, Climate change, Global public goods, Issues affecting countries outside the participating group.

Declining Cotton Production in India

Why in News?

India is witnessing a sustained decline in cotton output amid shrinking acreage in the northern cotton belt, stagnant productivity, pest attacks, rising cultivation costs and increasing climate-related risks. The contraction has also contributed to India becoming a net importer of raw cotton to meet domestic textile requirements.

Cotton in India: Basic Profile

Cotton is an important Kharif commercial crop and a critical raw material for India's textile industry.

1. Agro-climatic Requirements

Nature: Tropical and subtropical, semi-xerophytic crop.
Temperature: Approximately 21°C–30°C.
Rainfall: Around 50–100 cm.
Climate: Requires a long frost-free growing period and generally performs well under semi-arid conditions.
Water requirement: Although relatively drought tolerant, cotton is highly vulnerable to prolonged moisture stress as well as excessive rainfall during critical growth stages.

2. Cotton can be cultivated across different soil types:

Black cotton soil (Regur): Particularly suitable because of its high moisture-retention capacity.
Alluvial soils: Important in northern India.
Red and laterite soils: Found in parts of southern India.

3. Unique Position of India

India is distinctive because it cultivates all four commercially recognised cotton species:

Cotton species	Broad classification
Gossypium arboreum	Asian cotton
Gossypium herbaceum	Asian cotton
Gossypium hirsutum	American Upland cotton
Gossypium barbadense	Egyptian cotton

4. Major Cotton-Producing Regions

Northern Belt: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan
Central Belt: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh
Southern Belt: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka

Present Scenario of Cotton Production

1. Fall in National Output

India's cotton production has declined from earlier highs of around 350 lakh bales to approximately 290.91 lakh bales in 2025–26.
The decline has occurred alongside a reduction of nearly 18 lakh hectares in cotton acreage.

2. Contraction of the Northern Cotton Belt

The northern cotton region has experienced a particularly sharp decline.
Combined acreage in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan declined by about 23.2% in 2026.
Punjab witnessed an especially steep contraction, with cotton acreage falling by 37.5% to around 80,000 hectares.

3. Persistently Low Productivity

Average cotton productivity remains around 428–451 kg per hectare.
This is considerably below productivity levels achieved by leading producers such as China and Australia, limiting India's ability to increase production merely through existing cultivation practices.

4. Emergence of Import Dependence

India has become a net importer of raw cotton for the first time in decades, as domestic production has increasingly struggled to match the requirements of the textile sector.
This creates implications for Textile manufacturing costs, Farmer incomes, Export competitiveness., India's position in the global cotton value chain.

Major Factors Behind the Decline

1. Declining Effectiveness of Bt Cotton

Widespread adoption of Bt cotton initially helped control major bollworm pests and improve productivity.

Pest populations have developed resistance over time.
The yield advantage associated with Bollgard-II has weakened.
Resistance-related problems have become prominent since around 2006.
No major new GM cotton traits have been approved since then.

Consequence: Pest resistance → Higher crop vulnerability → Greater pesticide dependence → Rising costs → Lower profitability

2. Climate Change and Rainfall Uncertainty

Around 62% of India's cotton cultivation remains rain-dependent, making the crop particularly sensitive to weather variability.
Major climate-related risks: Erratic monsoon, Prolonged dry spells, Moisture stress, Untimely post-monsoon rainfall, Excess moisture during boll opening.
Rainfall during boll bursting can encourage rotting and quality deterioration, causing significant yield and income losses.

3. Rising Cost of Cultivation

Manual picking accounts for approximately 30–35% of cultivation costs.
Pesticide expenditure has also increased because of pest pressures.
Higher labour and input costs reduce the profitability of cotton compared with alternative crops.

4. Soil Degradation

Long-term cotton monocropping in some regions has contributed to declining soil health.
Contributing factors: Repeated cultivation of the same crop, Imbalanced nutrient application, Excessive dependence on subsidised urea, Declining soil organic carbon.
This can gradually reduce soil fertility and undermine sustainable productivity.

Why is the Northern Cotton Belt Shrinking?

1. Recurrent Pest Attacks

Repeated outbreaks of Pink Bollworm and Whitefly have severely affected cotton yields.
In badly affected areas, yields have reportedly fallen to around 1.5–2 quintals per acre, significantly below the estimated 7-quintal-per-acre break-even level.
As cotton becomes economically unattractive, farmers increasingly shift towards alternative crops.

2. Paddy's Assured Market

The procurement system for paddy, particularly through Minimum Support Price (MSP)-linked government procurement, provides farmers with greater market certainty.
This creates an important economic incentive:
Assured paddy market → Lower price risk → Greater farmer preference for paddy
Cotton, in contrast, faces greater exposure to market prices, pests and weather-related uncertainty.

3. Subsidised Agricultural Electricity

Flat-rate or subsidised electricity for agricultural tubewells reduces the effective cost of irrigation.
This can make water-intensive paddy cultivation economically attractive even in regions where cotton may be more water-efficient.

4. Waterlogging and Drainage Problems

Northern canal-irrigated areas can face Poor drainage, Waterlogging, Sudden heavy rainfall, Excess soil moisture.
Cotton is particularly vulnerable to prolonged waterlogging because excessive moisture can damage its root system and impair plant growth.

Government Measures to Revitalise Cotton

1. Mission for Cotton Productivity – ‘Kapas Kanti’

The Cotton Productivity Mission, also referred to as Kapas Kanti, seeks to enhance cotton productivity and strengthen the entire value chain.
Key objective: Target productivity of approximately 755 kg/ha and Promote an integrated value chain based on the 5F approach: Farm → Fibre → Factory → Fashion → Foreign
The broader objective is to improve both farm-level productivity and India's position in the global textile value chain.

2. PM MITRA

The PM MITRA initiative promotes the development of integrated textile parks.
It seeks to Create economies of scale, Reduce logistics costs, Integrate different stages of textile manufacturing, Connect cotton production with spinning, weaving and apparel manufacturing.
This can help India move from raw-material production towards higher-value textile manufacturing.

3. Technology Upgradation and Samarth

Supports modernisation of the textile sector through the adoption of advanced machinery and technology.
Samarth: Focuses on Skill development, Training, Upskilling of workers, Enhancing employability across the textile value chain.
Together, these initiatives can improve the competitiveness of India's cotton-based textile industry.

4. Kasturi Cotton India

Kasturi Cotton India seeks to develop a recognised Indian cotton brand by emphasising Traceability, Quality standards, Premium fibre characteristics, International certification, Global market competitiveness.
The initiative aims to improve the value realisation of Indian cotton in international markets.

Limiting Overshoot Report

Why in News?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the Limiting Overshoot report, examining the increasingly difficult task of keeping global warming within the 1.5°C threshold of the Paris Agreement and outlining a pathway to bring temperatures back below this level by the end of the century.

Key Findings of the Report

1. Temporary Breach of the 1.5°C Threshold is Increasingly Likely

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have not fallen rapidly enough to keep warming permanently below 1.5°C.
Even under ambitious climate action, global temperatures could temporarily rise to around 1.8°C by the middle of the century.
Under current policies, warming could reach approximately 2.6°C by 2100.
Key Concern: The challenge is therefore shifting from simply preventing an overshoot to minimising its magnitude and duration and subsequently reversing it.

2. Every Fraction of a Degree Matters

The report highlights that climate risks rise substantially even with relatively small increases in global temperature.
Warming beyond 1.5°C can intensify Extreme heatwaves, Flooding, Glacier and ice loss, Sea-level rise, Ecosystem degradation, Risks of crossing climate tipping points.
Vulnerable Regions at Greater Risk: Temporary overshoot could push highly vulnerable regions beyond ecological and socioeconomic thresholds where financial resources and adaptation measures may no longer be sufficient to prevent irreversible damage.

3. Delay Makes Temperature Reversal More Difficult

(a) The report underscores the cumulative impact of continued high emissions.

Every additional five years of high emissions could increase projected peak warming by about 0.1°C.
Reversing such additional warming would require an estimated 220 billion tonnes of CO₂ removal.

(b) Implication

Delayed mitigation → Higher peak warming → Greater carbon removal requirement → Higher cost and greater technological risk
This reinforces the principle that emission reduction today is more effective than relying on future carbon removal.

4. Carbon Dioxide Removal Cannot Substitute for Emission Cuts

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) refers to approaches that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it for the long term.
However, CDR faces several constraints High costs, Governance and regulatory challenges, Uncertainty over large-scale deployment, Technological limitations, Concerns regarding scalability.
Therefore, CDR should be viewed as a complement to deep emissions reductions, rather than a justification for delaying decarbonisation.

The “Overshoot, Peak and Decline” Approach

Given the increasing likelihood of temporarily exceeding 1.5°C, the report proposes a pathway centred on limiting the peak and subsequently reversing warming.

Phase	Indicative Timeline	Mechanism	Core Objective	Primary Action
Overshoot	Next few years	Temperatures temporarily cross 1.5°C	Minimise the extent of the breach	Rapidly reduce emissions and keep peak warming close to 1.8°C
Peak	By mid-century	Net-zero emissions halt further warming	Stabilise global temperature	Deep emissions reductions across all sectors
Decline	Towards 2100	Net-negative emissions remove more CO₂ than emitted	Gradually lower global temperature	Scale up responsible and effective CDR

Understanding the Three Stages

Phase I - Overshoot

The world may temporarily exceed the 1.5°C threshold.
The priority during this period should be to Prevent further temperature escalation, Accelerate emissions reductions, Minimise the duration of the overshoot, Protect vulnerable populations and ecosystems.
Target: Keep peak warming as close as possible to 1.8°C under ambitious action.

Phase II - Peak

The objective is to bring global emissions down to net zero.
Once net-zero emissions are achieved Additional warming can be substantially constrained, The increase in global temperature can be stabilised, The need for further rapid mitigation remains critical to enable eventual temperature decline.
Key Requirement: Deep decarbonisation across Energy, Transport, Industry, Buildings, Agriculture, Land-use systems.

Phase III - Decline

The final stage requires achieving net-negative emissions.
This means the amount of greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere exceeds the amount being emitted.
Large-scale and carefully governed carbon removal would then help gradually reduce atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and bring global warming back towards or below 1.5°C by 2100.

Why the Report Matters

Changes the Climate Policy Debate: The report recognises that a temporary breach of 1.5°C may increasingly become unavoidable and therefore emphasises limiting and reversing the overshoot.
Highlights the Cost of Delay: Every additional period of high emissions increases the eventual temperature peak and the scale of future carbon removal required.
Protects Vulnerable Regions: Even temporary warming beyond 1.5°C can produce disproportionate consequences for vulnerable countries and ecosystems.
Reinforces Immediate Mitigation: The report makes clear that future carbon removal cannot compensate indefinitely for present-day emission growth.

Key Concept: Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)

CDR involves removing carbon dioxide already present in the atmosphere and storing it for sufficiently long periods.
Potential approaches includeBiological carbon removal, Ecosystem-based sequestration, Technological carbon capture and storage approaches.
However, CDR faces important questions concerning Cost → Scalability → Energy requirements → Permanence → Land use → Governance
Hence, it should supplement rather than replace rapid fossil-fuel emission reductions.

Broader Challenges

Maintaining political commitment over decades.
Financing large-scale mitigation and adaptation.
Ensuring an equitable transition for developing countries.
Scaling up renewable energy and low-carbon technologies.
Establishing governance frameworks for CDR.
Preventing climate action from worsening inequalities.
Protecting vulnerable ecosystems during the overshoot period.

Language in the Indian Judiciary

Why in News?

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Union Government to recognise Tamil as the principal language of proceedings of the Madras High Court, bringing renewed attention to the constitutional framework governing the language used in Indian courts.

Constitutional Framework: Article 348

The Constitution establishes English as the general language for proceedings of the Supreme Court and High Courts, subject to specific constitutional exceptions.

1. Article 348(1): English as the Default Language

Under Article 348(1): Proceedings in the Supreme Court and High Courts are generally conducted in English.
Authoritative texts of Bills, Acts, Ordinances, Rules, Regulations and other legal instruments are also generally required to be in English.

2. Why English?

The provision seeks to ensure uniformity, consistency and legal certainty in judicial and legislative documentation across India.

3. Article 348(2): Use of State Languages in High Courts

Article 348(2) provides a constitutional mechanism for introducing a language other than English in High Court proceedings.

4. Conditions

The Governor of the State may authorise the use of Hindi, or Any other official language of the State in proceedings of the High Court, but only after obtaining the previous consent of the President.
The provision applies to High Courts, not the Supreme Court.

Language of Judicial Judgments, Decrees and Orders

The legal framework also permits the use of Hindi or a State's official language in certain High Court outputs.
Under the Official Languages Act, 1963, the Governor, with the previous consent of the President, may authorise the use of Hindi or another official State language for Judgments Decrees, Orders issued by the High Court.
English Translation is Mandatory
- Where such a language is used, the judgment, decree or order must be accompanied by an English translation.
- This requirement helps preserve accessibility and legal uniformity across the country's judicial system.

Why is Language in Courts Significant?

Access to Justice: Allowing greater use of regional languages can make judicial proceedings more accessible to litigants who may not be comfortable with English.
Constitutional Recognition of Linguistic Diversity: India's multilingual character is reflected in the flexibility provided under Article 348.
Legal Uniformity: The continued requirement of English translations ensures that judicial and legislative texts remain accessible across jurisdictions.
Democratic Participation: Greater use of Indian languages in legal institutions can potentially reduce the linguistic distance between citizens and the justice system.

Reuse of Treated Wastewater in India

Why in News?

Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have recently notified policies aimed at promoting the reuse of treated wastewater. The initiative also seeks to overcome the social stigma associated with recycled water by referring to treated wastewater as “Apna Jal” (Our Water).

The development highlights the need to shift India's approach from merely treating sewage to recovering and reusing water as a valuable resource.

Wastewater Treatment in India: Current Scenario

India faces a significant gap between the amount of sewage generated and the capacity to safely treat and reuse it.

1. Large Treatment Deficit

Urban areas generate approximately 72,368 MLD of sewage.
Only around 28% is currently treated.
Consequently, more than 52,100 MLD of wastewater remains untreated and can enter rivers, lakes, groundwater and other freshwater ecosystems.

2. Uneven Distribution of Treatment Capacity

Wastewater infrastructure is highly concentrated geographically.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka together account for approximately 60% of treatment capacity.
Several northeastern states have very limited public wastewater-treatment infrastructure.

This creates substantial regional disparities in sanitation and water-resource management.

Treatment Does Not Always Mean Safe Reuse

A major concern is the quality and reliability of wastewater treatment.

Nearly half of operational treatment plants reportedly fail basic water-quality requirements.
As a result, the proportion of wastewater that can be considered safely treated and suitable for reuse is estimated at only around 17% nationally.

Thus Sewage generation → Treatment capacity → Effective treatment → Safe reuse are four different stages, and India faces gaps at each level.

Future Wastewater Challenge

Urbanisation is expected to substantially increase sewage generation.

Urban sewage generation could rise to approximately 120,000 MLD by 2050.
This is likely to increase demand for Sewage treatment technologies, Water recycling systems, Advanced filtration, Distribution networks, Monitoring and quality-control systems.
The wastewater technology market is projected to grow at approximately 9.62% CAGR, potentially reaching USD 5.17 billion by 2031.

Major Challenges to Wastewater Reuse

1. Incomplete Sewerage Connectivity

Piped sewerage reaches only around 33% of urban households.
Consequence: Treatment plants may not receive sufficient sewage to operate at optimal levels.
Existing treatment infrastructure reportedly operates at only around 64% of installed capacity nationally.
This creates a paradox of having treatment infrastructure without adequate sewage inflow.
Limited sewer connectivity → Low sewage capture → Under-utilised STPs → Higher unit treatment costs

2. Fragmented Institutional Responsibility

Wastewater management involves multiple agencies, including State water authorities, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), Pollution Control Boards.
Overlapping responsibilities can result in Weak coordination, Uneven enforcement, Regulatory ambiguity, Delayed implementation of reuse targets.
This becomes particularly problematic for enforcing the 20% municipal wastewater reuse target.

3. Recycled Water Often Lacks Price Competitiveness

Treated wastewater may remain economically unattractive for potential industrial users.
For example, pricing recycled wastewater at around ₹20 per kilolitre can make it less competitive than subsidised freshwater for some large industrial consumers.
Key issue: The economics of reuse cannot be addressed through treatment alone; pricing of both freshwater and recycled water must reflect their environmental and resource costs.

4. Land Constraints

Wastewater-treatment infrastructure can require substantial land.

The requirement may approach one acre per million litres per day (MLD) of capacity in certain configurations.
Acquiring land for new plants is particularly difficult in densely populated urban areas.

Therefore, compact and decentralised treatment technologies can become increasingly important.

5. Dilution of Pollution-Control Standards

Relaxation of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) discharge standards from 10 mg/L to 30 mg/L can create concerns regarding the quality of treated effluent entering natural water bodies.

Why BOD matters?

Biochemical Oxygen Demand indicates the amount of dissolved oxygen required by microorganisms to break down biodegradable organic matter in water.
Higher BOD generally indicates a greater organic pollution load.

6. Absence of Reliable Offtake Networks

Treatment becomes ineffective from a resource-recovery perspective if treated water has nowhere to go.
In some cases, treated effluent may be discharged through unlined stormwater drains rather than being connected to dedicated reuse networks.
This can result in Treated water → Poor disposal system → Environmental contamination
Therefore, wastewater policy must address both treatment infrastructure and distribution/offtake infrastructure.

Government Initiatives

1. AMRUT 2.0

The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 promotes water security and wastewater management.

Key relevance

Sets a 20% urban wastewater reuse target.
Supports sewerage and treatment infrastructure.
Encourages the use of treated wastewater for non-potable purposes.

2. Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban 2.0

The mission strengthens urban sanitation and wastewater management.

Key components include:

Support for water and sanitation management in smaller urban areas, including towns with populations below one lakh.
Water+ certification, aimed at ensuring that wastewater is safely managed rather than discharged untreated into the environment.

3. Namami Gange Programme

The programme supports sewage-treatment infrastructure to reduce pollution in the Ganga basin.

Hybrid Annuity Model

Under the model, Private-sector participation is used for developing and operating sewage-treatment infrastructure.
A significant portion of payments is linked to long-term operation and performance.
The model provides for operational maintenance over an extended period, including a 15-year period.

This attempts to address the problem of treatment plants becoming dysfunctional after construction.

4. National Tariff Policy

The policy promotes the use of treated wastewater by thermal power plants located within a 50-km radius of sewage treatment facilities.
Objective: To substitute treated wastewater for freshwater in industrial applications and thereby conserve primary freshwater resources.

5. National Framework for Safe Reuse of Treated Water, 2022

The framework encourages States to formulate their own wastewater-reuse policies.
Focus: State-level reuse frameworks, Quantifiable targets, Safe reuse practices, Institutionalisation of wastewater recycling.

6. Swachh Bharat Mission–Gramin Phase II

The rural sanitation programme supports decentralised approaches for managing household wastewater.
These include Community soak pits, Waste stabilisation ponds, Local greywater-management systems.
The objective is to prevent unmanaged wastewater from contaminating soil and shallow groundwater.

7. National River Conservation Plan

The programme supports measures such as Interceptor sewers, Sewage-treatment facilities, Diversion of untreated municipal wastewater, Pollution-abatement infrastructure.
It extends river-conservation efforts beyond the Ganga basin to other major river system

UN Report on Sea-Level Rise

Why in News?

A United Nations report titled “Challenges related to sea-level rise and ways and approaches to address it” was presented during the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau, drawing attention to the accelerating threat posed by rising oceans to coastal populations, ecosystems and national infrastructure.

Key Findings

1. Accelerating Sea-Level Rise

Global mean sea level recorded a rise of approximately 5.9 mm during 2024, highlighting the growing pace of ocean-level change.
The report indicates that global sea levels could rise by at least 0.5 metre by 2100, creating severe consequences for low-lying coastal regions.

2. Large Population at Risk

Approximately 770 million people, equivalent to around one in every ten people globally, live in low-elevation coastal areas that are vulnerable to rising seas.
Particularly exposed groups include Indigenous communities, Residents of low-lying coastal settlements, Populations of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

For many island and coastal communities, sea-level rise represents not merely an environmental concern but a direct threat to livelihoods, housing and territorial security.

Major Consequences of Sea-Level Rise

1. Permanent Inundation

Rising sea levels can permanently submerge portions of Coastal settlements, Agricultural land, Wetlands, Low-lying islands.
This can result in the displacement of entire communities.

2. Coastal Infrastructure Damage

Increasing sea levels raise the vulnerability of Ports, Roads, Airports, Industrial facilities, Urban infrastructure, Power and water systems.
Higher baseline sea levels also amplify the impact of storm surges and coastal cyclones.

3. Saltwater Intrusion

Sea-level rise can push saline seawater further inland, contaminating Coastal aquifers, Agricultural soils, Freshwater sources.
This can threaten both drinking-water security and agricultural productivity.

4. Displacement and Migration

Permanent inundation and declining livelihood opportunities may force coastal communities to relocate.
This can create challenges related to Planned relocation, Urbanisation, Livelihood rehabilitation, Social integration, Climate-induced migration.

5. Maritime Boundary Disputes

Sea-level rise can also create complex legal and geopolitical questions concerning Coastal baselines, Maritime zones, Territorial waters, Exclusive Economic Zones, Island territories.
This makes sea-level rise relevant not only to environmental governance but also to international law and maritime security.

India-Specific Vulnerabilities

1. Vulnerable Coastal Cities

The report highlights significant risks for major South Asian cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Dhaka
More than 14 million people in these areas could face the risk of losing homes because of permanent inundation.

Why Mumbai and Kolkata Matter?

Both cities combine Dense urban population + Low-lying terrain + Coastal exposure + Infrastructure concentration
This can magnify the socioeconomic consequences of even incremental sea-level rise.

Land Subsidence: A Compounding Risk

In cities such as Mumbai, land subsidence can occur alongside rising sea levels, effectively reducing the elevation of the land relative to the sea.
Sea-level rise + Land subsidence + Extreme rainfall/storm surge leads to Greater coastal flooding risk

Therefore, adaptation planning needs to consider both vertical changes in land and changes in ocean level.

Khagantak-243: Indigenous Long-Range Glide Bomb

Why in News?

The Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted the maiden drop test of Khagantak-243, an indigenously designed precision-guided glide bomb, marking another development in India’s efforts to strengthen indigenous stand-off strike capabilities.

Khagantak-243 is not India’s first indigenous long-range glide bomb.
That distinction belongs to Gaurav, the approximately 1,000-kg-class glide bomb developed by DRDO.

What is Khagantak-243?

Khagantak-243 is a 300-kg-class airborne precision-guided smart glide bomb designed to engage ground targets from considerable distances without requiring the launching aircraft to enter the effective engagement zone of enemy air-defence systems.

Key Characteristics

Type: Air-launched precision-guided glide bomb.
Weight class: Approximately 300 kg.
Capability: Stand-off precision strike.
Range: More than 120 km under specified release conditions.
Guidance: Jamming-resistant satellite navigation.
Navigation: Designed to retain operational capability in GPS-denied environments.
Propulsion: No onboard propulsion; relies on aerodynamic glide.
Warhead: Mk 81 with approximately 125 kg explosive fill.

Development

The system has been developed through collaboration between:

JSR Dynamics – Nagpur-based private defence startup.
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) – Defence public sector enterprise.

The development reflects the growing participation of Indian private-sector firms in advanced defence technologies and precision-guided weapon systems.

Feature	Khagantak-243	Gaurav
Developer	JSR Dynamics + BEL	DRDO
Weight class	~300 kg	~1,000 kg
Type	Precision-guided glide bomb	Precision-guided glide bomb
Propulsion	Glide-based	Glide-based
Reported range	>120 km under specified conditions	Up to ~150 km
Primary significance	Indigenous stand-off precision capability	India’s earlier indigenous long-range glide-bomb development

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