Current Affairs: 2nd Sept 2025

General Studies 1: Geography; Rainfall patterns in Karnataka

Karnataka received more than normal rainfall between June 1 and September 1

Context: Karnataka between this June 1 and September 1 received 786 mm rainfall as against a normal of 675.6 mm during the south-west monsoon. However, seven districts, including Kodagu, Shivamogga, Bengaluru South (formerly Ramanagara) and Hassan, have reported deficient rainfall.

Departure of 16%

• According to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) seasonal cumulative rainfall data, there was a departure of 16% rain during this period.
• The three meteorological sub-divisions in the State [coastal, north Interior and south interior] also saw a departure in rainfall during this period.
• Coastal Karnataka received 3,103.6 mm rain as against a normal of 2,790.5 mm with a departure of 11%. Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada saw a departure of 5%, 5%, and 18%, respectively.
• North interior Karnataka received 508.8mm rain as against the normal of 344.8 mm with a departure of 48%. The 11 districts in this sub-division [Bagalkot, Belagavi, Bidar, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayapura, and Yadgir] received more than normal rainfall. Vijayapura topped the list with 450.9 mm as against a normal of 246.6 mm with a departure of 83%, followed by Gadag which received 427.3 mm rainfall as against a normal of 236 mm with a departure of 81%.
• South interior Karnataka received 561.8 mm rain as against the normal 534.4 mm with a departure of 5%. Ballari (departure of 61%), Chickballapur (29%), Chikkamagaluru (34%), Chitradurga (98%), Davangere (57%), Kolar (25%), Mandya (47%), Mysuru (3%), Tumakuru (31%), and Vijayanagara (61%) received more than the normal rainfall during the three months.

Deficient rainfall

• However, Bengaluru Rural (departure of -9%), Bengaluru Urban (-10%), Chamarajanagar (-2%), Hassan (-30%), Kodagu (-12%), Bengaluru South (-40%), and Shivamogga (-27%) recorded deficient rainfall.
• This year (2025), the south-west monsoon arrived earlier than expected in the last week of May.

Sources: TH

General Studies 2: Polity; Governance reforms in Metroplitan corporation

Three-tier governance structure ushers in a new era in Bengaluru

Context: The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, that has already come into effect is gradually being implemented. While the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has already been constituted, the last step – the formation of five corporations replacing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) – is expected to be notified.

• The GBG Act, 2024 will bring in a three-tier structure to governance in Bengaluru with the Chief Minister-led GBA at the pan city level, which, for the first time, brings together all parastatals in the city on one platform along with five city corporations and ward committees.
• GBG Act, 2024 has retained certain provisions of the BBMP Act, 2020 which are criticised as perpetuating the stranglehold of MLAs on city governance and councillors over ward committees.
• The law provides for a coordination committee headed by the MLA at the Assembly constituency level, which, though has only advisory powers, brings together councillors, officers of all agencies and gives the committee powers to oversee the implementation of projects and select beneficiaries of welfare schemes.
• Meanwhile, the ward committee of 15, is led by the councillor, has seven members nominated by the corporation, giving them a majority. Over and above this, the councillor has been given a veto power over any decision.

Sources: TH

General Studies 2: Polity; Remission of sentence

Convicts are entitled for remission even if sentence is for specified term: High Court

Context: Convicts are entitled to being considered for remission even if the sentence is beyond 20 years or for a specified term, unless the order of sentence makes it clear that the convict shall not be entitled for premature release or remission or parole or the like, said the High Court of Karnataka.

Judement

• The court pointed out that Rule 164 of Karnataka Prisons and Correctional Services Manual, 2021, is clear that there is no particular embargo on the convict being entitled for remission if the sentence is for 20 years or more, or even for a particular period beyond 20 years.
• Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Deepa Angadi, who had questioned the rejection of plea for remission of her husband, brother-in-law, and mother-in-law, who were sentenced to 21 years in 2013 in a murder case.
• A trial court in Belagavi in 2008 imposed the death penalty on Siddappa, husband, Siddalingappa, brother-in-law, and Mallavva, mother-in-law of the petitioner, and the High Court in 2013 modified it to imprisonment for 21 years with the benefit of remission.
• Their application for remission of sentence was rejected by the prison authorities for the reason that the imprisonment is for a specific period of 21 years.
• However, the High Court clarified that there was no condition in the 2013 order that the convicts would not be entitled for remission or parole.
• Pointing out that the remission system, which comes with some conditions, aims at the reformation of prisoners, the court said that “remission is held out as a carrot for the detenu so that they behave properly with discipline and good conduct with the hope of being released early by remitting the sentence”, though remission is not a right for any prisoner.
• Citing a Supreme Court’s order which stated that convicts sentenced to life are entitled for remission only after 14 years of imprisonment, the High Court said that the petitioner’s relatives are entitled to be considered for remission as they had completed over 14 years.

Sources: TH

GS3: Environment; Fuels; Ethanol blending

SC refuses to entertain plea against roll-out of 20% ethanol-blended petrol nationwide

Context: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the nationwide roll-out of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (E20) which alleged that millions of motorists were being compelled to use fuel unsuited to their vehicles without the option of getting ethanol-free petrol.

• A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran refused to entertain the petition after the Union government defended the ethanol-blending programme as a measure to bolster the income of sugar cane farmers and conserve foreign exchange.
• Senior advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for petitioner Akshay Malhotra, cited NITI Aayog’s 2021 report “Roadmap for ethanol blending in India 2020-25”, which noted that blending ethanol up to 20% could cut fuel efficiency by 6-7% in four-wheelers and 3-4% in two-wheelers. He clarified that the petitioner was not opposing ethanol blending as a policy, but only sought the continued availability of ethanol-free petrol for vehicles manufactured before April 2023, which are not compatible with E20 fuel.
• Attorney-General R. Venkataramani, representing the Centre, questioned the bona fides of the plea, alleging that the petitioner was merely a “name-lender” and that the challenge reflected the interests of a larger lobby intent on obstructing India’s clean fuel transition.
• “The policy benefits our sugar cane farmers and saves precious foreign exchange.
• E20 fuel has been gradually introduced since 2023, replacing earlier blends such as E5 and E10, which were regarded as more compatible with older vehicles. These alternatives have now been phased out from almost all of the country’s 90,000 fuel stations. The ethanol-blending programme is central to India’s strategy to lower carbon emissions and reduce dependence on crude oil imports.
• Last month, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas endorsed the use of E20, claiming it offers “better acceleration and improved ride quality” in addition to supporting the livelihoods of farmers.
• The validity of vehicle insurance policies remains unaffected by the use of E20.

‘Consumer choice’

• The petition contended that the policy violated the fundamental rights of vehicle owners whose automobiles are incompatible with E20, as it left them with no option to purchase ethanol-free petrol.
• It further argued that the absence of public awareness and proper labelling of fuel pumps breached the right to informed consumer choice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• “It is also relevant to mention that as the vehicles are not compatible with ethanol-blended petrol, which will result in damage to the said vehicles, the claim raised in this regard will not be covered by the manufacturers or the insurance companies, as the consumers have violated the terms specified by the manufacturers/insurance companies,” the petition said.
• It sought directions to the authorities to mandate ethanol labelling at all petrol pumps and dispensing units, and to conduct a “nationwide impact study on mechanical degradation and efficiency loss due to ethanol blended fuel to the extent of 20% usage in non-compliant vehicles.”

Sources: TH

GS3: Infrastructure; Transportation; Railways

New Bairabi-Sairang rail line set to improve connectivity in Mizoram

Context: Mizoram will soon be connected to the national railway network when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang broad-gauge line, constructed at an estimated ₹5,021 crore, in the second week of September.

• The new line terminating at Sairang will connect Aizawl, the State capital about 20 km away, with the rest of the country.
• The line links Silchar in Assam via Bhodahpur Junction, integrating the network with Assam, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Indian Railways has big plans to connect the other northeastern States of Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Sikkim with the national network by 2030, Northeast Frontier Railway official.
• While access by road took long hours of travel, flying was expensive. Travel by train would provide an affordable options to all categories of people, besides boosting economic activities in the region with a special focus on tourism.
• The new line has 48 tunnels with a total length of 12.85 km, the longest being about 1.37 km; 55 major bridges with the longest being about 1.3 km and the tallest, Krung Bridge at Sairang, being 114 m from the base; 87 minor bridges; five road overbridges; and six road underbridges.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone for the project on November 29, 2014. He virtually flagged off the first passenger train between Bairabi and Silchar on May 27, 2016.
• Almost all essential items to Mizoram were brought from Silchar in Assam, a journey of about 10 hours by road. With the new line, the travel time gets reduced to about three hours.

GS3: Environment; Air Pollution. Air Quality Index

All of India breathes bad air, AQLI 2025 report says

Context: While north Indian cities such as Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Kanpur are notorious for their air pollution, almost everyone living in India breathes air dirtier than what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has deemed safe.

• According to the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) 2025 annual update, all of India lives in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level (PM2.5) exceeds the WHO annual average limit of 5 g/m³.
• The country’s northern plains, however, remain the greater offenders, exposing an estimated 544.4 million people to bad air.
• The AQLI report is based on global pollution data from 2023. Atmospheric pollution levels rose planet wide in 2023 following two relatively quiescent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The report was put together by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
  • The air quality in India is also bad by its own standards, which are more lenient than those of the WHO. According to the report, 46% of India’s people live in areas where the national annual PM2.5 standard of 40 g/m3 has been breached.
  • The report also said Delhi will experience the greatest benefit among India’s cities by lowering particulate pollution to the WHO’s recommendation, adding 8.2 years to life expectancy.
  • Because the whole country currently breathes subpar air, even those in the cleanest areas could live 9.4 months more if their air is cleaned up, the report found.
• The problem transcends borders, of course. Emissions from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan have together blanketed a big swath of South Asia with polluted air.
• Bangladesh in particular has consistently been the most polluted country in the region for years. In 2023, the country’s air had 12x greater PM2.5 concentration than the WHO guidelines — and improving it could add 5.5 years on average to resident Bangladeshis’ lives. The report estimated the potential gain to be highest in Gazipur, where residents could live 7.1 years longer.
• China noted a consistent decrease in pollution over the last decade. China, however, has been somewhat of a notable exception: while the concentration of harmful particles in its air grew by 2.8% in 2023, the air quality has been improving for a decade. This is not accidental. Even with the 2.8% increase in 2023, the particulate concentration was still 40.8% lower than what it was in 2014. Among other policies, the country has restricted the number of cars on the roads in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou; cut its iron- and steel-making capacity; banned new coal plants in specific regions; and replaced coal-based home heating solutions with gas or electric heaters, the AQLI report noted. Then again, a lot remains to be done. Even if China’s air is cleaner than India’s, the people of China are also exposed to more PM2.5 levels than the WHO’s threshold.
• Worldwide, the global PM2.5 concentration in 2023 was 1.5% higher than in 2022 and almost 5x times over the WHO limit. Indeed, the report identified particulate pollution as the “greatest external threat to human life expectancy” in 2023.

Sources: TH

Few liner facts:

State secures spot on National Quantum Mission board

• In a significant move towards cooperative federalism and deep-tech development, Karnataka has secured representation in the Hub Governing Board (HGB) of the National Quantum Mission (NQM).

• Following a prompt from G. Kumar Naik, Lok Sabha member from Raichur, the Union government acknowledged the need for State participation.

Indian Navy ships conclude Saudi visit with joint exercise

• Indian Navy warships INS Tamal and INS Surat (in picture) concluded their port call at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on August 30, with a passage exercise alongside the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) corvette HMS Jazan, before proceeding on deployment.
• The ships engaged extensively with the RSNF and Saudi Border Guard through sports fixtures and interactions with personnel.
• On August 28, the vessels hosted India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan, onboard.
• The visit underscored India’s commitment to strengthening defence cooperation with Saudi Arabia while offering both navies opportunities to share best practices and explore future engagements.

Centre launches ‘Adi Vaani’ to translate Adivasi languages

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched the beta version of its Adi Vaani Adivasi language translation application and website at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.
• It will “help bridge communication gaps for tribal communities in remote areas and empower tribal youth digitally”.
• It is a “landmark initiative towards inclusive tribal empowerment and linguistic preservation”.
• The app, which has been in development for over a year now, has capabilities to translate Adivasi languages to and from Hindi and English.
• In its first phase, the supported languages include Gondi, Bhili, Mundari, Santali, Kui, and Garo.

Sources: TH