News Context

• A meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 1 October will seek to resolve the Mahanadi water-sharing dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, following an earlier meeting chaired by Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil on 30 July.
• The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi, will take the final decision based on the Central Water Commission’s technical report.

Core Facts of the Dispute

• The dispute has continued for nearly a decade. Odisha alleges Chhattisgarh built over 500 anicuts and 30 barrages after 2010 and seeks to stop further upstream construction.
• Technical reports from both States have been submitted to the Central Water Commission (CWC). A regulatory body for Mahanadi water-sharing is also being considered.
• Anicut: a small dam or weir built to store or divert river water, mainly for irrigation.

Mahanadi River — Key Facts for Prelims

• Rises near Sihawa in Chhattisgarh and flows east through Chhattisgarh and Odisha into the Bay of Bengal; length about 851 km.
• Forms a large delta near Cuttack, with Chilika Lake lying near its delta region.
• Hirakud Dam in Odisha is the major dam on the river — among the longest earthen dams in the world.
• Tributaries: Seonath, Hasdeo, Mand, Ib (left bank); Ong, Tel, Jonk (right bank).

Constitutional & Legal Framework

• Article 262 lets Parliament provide for adjudication of inter-State river disputes and bar Supreme Court jurisdiction over them.
• The Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 provides for setting up tribunals; a 2002 amendment introduced time limits for tribunal decisions.
• Water is a State subject (Entry 17, State List), but regulation and development of inter-State rivers in the public interest falls under the Union (Entry 56, Union List).

News Context

• NFHS-6 (2023–24) shows a major gender gap in sterilisation: 0.5% of men report sterilisation compared with 36.5% of married women.
• The WHO has issued new guidelines on contraceptive options, including benchmarks for reversible male contraceptives for the first time.

Key Findings — Facts for Prelims

• Contraceptive use among currently married women (15–49) rose from 66.7% (NFHS-5) to 69.1% (NFHS-6).
• Modern method use fell from 56.4% to 52.7%, while traditional methods (rhythm/withdrawal) rose by about 6 percentage points — the largest rise of any method.
• Female sterilisation fell slightly from 37.9% to 36.5%; male sterilisation rose only from 0.3% to 0.5%, down from 3.4% in NFHS-1.
• Unmet need for family planning fell by one percentage point from NFHS-5.

Static Linkage

• NFHS is conducted under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with IIPS, Mumbai as the nodal agency.
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR) replacement level is 2.1. Vasectomy is male sterilisation; tubectomy is female sterilisation.
• NFHS-6 covers 2023-24; NFHS-5 covers 2019-21.

News Context

• Researchers at the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society suggest rare-disease drugs could become a new pharma opportunity for India, supported by easier regulation, PLI and government procurement.
• Around 8,000 rare diseases exist worldwide; 1,004 rare genetic disorders have been reported in India. Drugs exist for only about 5% of rare diseases.

Key Facts for Prelims

• Orphan drugs: drugs for rare diseases, so called because small patient numbers limited industry interest.
• Endogamy raises prevalence of some rare diseases in India — e.g. beta-thalassemia up to 10.5% in some groups vs 3.7% in the general population.
• The Orphan Drug Act, 1983 (USA) gave tax incentives, 7 years market exclusivity, grants and fee waivers; Japan, Australia and the EU followed similar laws.
• Under Rule 101 of the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, the CDSCO has specified six countries (incl. US, UK) whose approvals can exempt a drug from a fresh clinical trial in India.
• CDSCO is India’s drug regulator under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, headed by the DCGI.

News Context

• India’s industrial growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose to 8% in August 2026, from 7.35% in July, per MoSPI.
• Second-highest growth in the new IIP series (since April 2024), after 8.8% in June 2026. Manufacturing grew 8.95%; electricity grew 12.3% (a 27-month high); capital goods grew 16.9% (a three-month low).

Understanding IIP — Key Facts

• IIP measures change in volume of production of a basket of industrial products; compiled monthly by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under MoSPI.
• Covers three sectors: mining, manufacturing and electricity — manufacturing has the largest weight.
• Use-based classification: primary goods, capital goods, intermediate goods, infrastructure/construction goods, consumer durables, consumer non-durables.
• The Index of Eight Core Industries (compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT) feeds into IIP — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity.

News Context

• The Supreme Court Collegium recently recommended three High Court Chief Justices for elevation to the Supreme Court.
• The Centre’s earlier non-approval of Himachal Pradesh HC Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia’s recommendation has renewed debate over the Collegium system.

Core Facts — Key Facts for Prelims

• The Collegium is not mentioned in the Constitution; it evolved through Supreme Court judgments.
• SC Collegium = CJI + 4 senior-most SC judges. HC Collegium = HC Chief Justice + 2 senior-most HC judges.
• The Collegium recommends; the President appoints on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers, via the Department of Justice.
• If the Collegium reiterates a name after the Centre returns it, the Centre is bound to appoint that person.

Evolution — Judges Cases

• First Judges Case (1981): “consultation” with the CJI was not “concurrence” — executive primacy.
• Second Judges Case (1993): primacy of the CJI; “consultation” means concurrence — the Collegium was born (CJI + 2 judges).
• Third Judges Case (1998, Art. 143 reference): Collegium expanded to CJI + 4 senior-most judges.
• Fourth Judges Case / NJAC case (2015): the 99th Constitutional Amendment and NJAC Act, 2014 were struck down as violating the independence of the judiciary (basic structure).

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 124 — establishment/appointment of SC judges. Article 217 — HC judges. Article 222 — transfer of judges between HCs. Article 224 — additional HC judges.
• SC judges retire at 65 (Art. 124(2)); HC judges at 62 (Art. 217). Removal is through Parliament (Art. 124(4)) — the Collegium has no role in removal.