UPSC Prelims
6 Topics
Prelims Pinpointer
Prelims Pinpointer — September 21, 2026
Today’s high-yield Prelims facts — the Mahanadi water dispute and river geography, Tulu’s push for additional official language status in Karnataka, the sulphur price surge hitting fertiliser supply, Project Cheetah’s expanding population, GI tags versus cultural misappropriation in Indian crafts, and a bonus on thorium and India’s three-stage nuclear programme
🌊 Mahanadi River
🗣️ Tulu Language
🧪 Sulphur & Fertiliser
🐆 Project Cheetah
🧵 GI Tags & Crafts
⚛️ Thorium & Nuclear
🌊
Mahanadi River — Odisha-Chhattisgarh Water Dispute
News Context
- On 20 September 2026, the Chhattisgarh CM said the Mahanadi dispute would be resolved soon, with both states agreeing to accept the Central Water Commission’s decision; the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal will hear the case again on 28 September 2026.
Key Facts for Prelims
- Major east-flowing river of Peninsular India, meaning “great river”; rises in the Sihawa hills, Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh; ~851 km long; falls into the Bay of Bengal.
- Basin ~1,41,600 sq km (~4.3% of India’s area); also touches Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh; mostly rain-fed; called “Sorrow of Odisha” (like Kosi = “Sorrow of Bihar”).
- Course: Chhattisgarh plain → Raipur, Bilaspur, Korba → enters Odisha, passes Sambalpur (Hirakud Dam) → cuts through Eastern Ghats via Satkosia Gorge (~64 km) → Naraj near Cuttack → Bay of Bengal near Paradip (False Point).
- Tributaries — left bank: Seonath (longest), Hasdeo, Mand, Ib; right bank: Ong, Tel, Jonk.
- Hirakud Dam (Sambalpur) — one of the longest earthen dams in the world (~26 km incl. dykes); reservoir among the largest artificial lakes in Asia. Forms a delta joining the Brahmani; feeds Chilika Lake (Ramsar site, Asia’s largest brackish-water lagoon). Satkosia Gorge lies in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, a Ramsar site since 2021.
- Dispute: Odisha says upstream Chhattisgarh barrages reduce flow into Hirakud in non-monsoon months; Tribunal constituted March 2018 under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (Article 262); Central Water Commission is the technical body under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Source: The Hindu
🗣️
Tulu Gets Additional Official Language Status in Karnataka
News Context
- The Karnataka Cabinet decided to make Tulu an additional administrative language in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, requiring an amendment to the Karnataka Official Language Act, 1963 and Governor’s approval; Tulu is not yet in the Eighth Schedule.
Key Facts for Prelims
- Dravidian language of Tulu Nadu (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi in Karnataka; northern Kasaragod in Kerala); ~18.5 lakh speakers (2011 Census); UNESCO-classified Vulnerable; traditionally in Tigalari script, today mostly Kannada script.
- Part XVII — key Articles: 343 (Hindi as Union official language), 344 (Official Language Commission), 345 (State can adopt its own official language — basis of Tulu decision), 346, 347, 350, 350A, 350B, 351.
- Constitution names no national language — Hindi is the Union’s official language only.
- Eighth Schedule: 22 languages, linked to Articles 344(1) and 351. Original 14 → Sindhi (21st Amdt, 1967) → Konkani/Manipuri/Nepali (71st, 1992) → Bodo/Dogri/Maithili/Santhali (92nd, 2003/2004) → Oriya renamed Odia (96th, 2011). Only Parliament can add a language via amendment.
- Classical Languages (since 2004): Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia (pre-2024) + Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, Bengali (Oct 2024) = 11. Note: Pali and Prakrit are not in the Eighth Schedule.
Source: The Hindu
🧪
Sulphur Price Surge and India’s Fertiliser Supply
News Context
- Sulphur prices in India have risen sharply to ~$1,070/tonne due to the Russia-Ukraine and West Asia conflicts, export restrictions and rising EV-battery demand — threatening fertiliser availability ahead of the rabi season.
Key Facts for Prelims
- Atomic number 16; only ~1/10 of world sulphur is mined, rest is a by-product of oil/gas industries (~56% petroleum refining, ~34% natural gas processing); it is a secondary plant nutrient, not primary (N-P-K).
- Fertiliser sector uses ~60% of the world’s ~70 million tonnes yearly sulphur; India’s yearly use ~3.8-3.9 million tonnes (fertiliser industry ~2-2.1 million tonnes).
- Chain: sulphur → sulphuric acid → converts rock phosphate to water-soluble phosphoric acid → DAP/complex fertilisers; sulphuric acid also directly makes SSP. Urea instead depends on natural gas (ammonia route).
- India’s domestic phosphoric acid capacity (~2.2 mt) meets only about half the ~4.3-4.5 mt needed; IFFCO, Coromandel International, Paradeep Phosphates import sulphur/rock phosphate.
Source: Indian Express
🐆
Project Cheetah and Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary
News Context
- On 20 September 2026, MP CM Mohan Yadav released CCB-2 (Radha), a female cheetah from Botswana, at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary — now four cheetahs there; India-born cheetah KGP12 gave birth to four cubs at Kuno on 18 September, taking India’s cheetah population to 56.
Key Facts for Prelims
- India’s programme to reintroduce the cheetah (declared extinct 1952); launched 17 September 2022 — PM Modi released 8 Namibian cheetahs into Kuno; world’s first intercontinental translocation of a large wild carnivore.
- 2nd batch: 12 cheetahs, South Africa (18 Feb 2023); 3rd batch: 9 cheetahs, Botswana (28 Feb 2026) — hence “CCB” prefix.
- Sites: Kuno National Park (Sheopur, MP — originally prepared as a 2nd home for the Asiatic lion) and Gandhi Sagar WLS (MP-Rajasthan border, near Gandhi Sagar Dam on the Chambal).
- Acinonyx jubatus — fastest land animal, doesn’t roar; IUCN Vulnerable (Asiatic cheetah in Iran: Critically Endangered); CITES Appendix I, WPA 1972 Schedule I. All cheetahs in India are African, not the extinct Asiatic subspecies.
Source: Indian Express
🧵
Indian Crafts, GI Tags and Cultural Misappropriation
News Context
- Ralph Lauren and Fendi criticised for luxury products resembling Indian crafts (aari embroidery, mirror work) — follows the earlier Prada Kolhapuri-sandals controversy; experts urge community ownership, digital registries and stronger legal protection.
Key Facts for Prelims
- GI Act, 1999 (in force 15 Sept 2003, a TRIPS/WTO commitment) — GI Registry in Chennai under the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks; Darjeeling Tea was India’s first GI (2004); registration valid 10 years, renewable; India has 600+ registered GIs.
- A GI protects a product’s name, origin and reputation — not its design or technique, the “inspired by” loophole exploited by brands.
- Kolhapuri Chappal case: GI-tagged sandals, registered holders LIDCOM (Maharashtra) and LIDKAR (Karnataka); Prada’s June 2025 near-identical sandals sparked protests; Bombay HC dismissed the PIL (16 July 2025), holding only registered GI holders have standing for civil infringement proceedings.
Source: Indian Express
⚛️
Bonus: Thorium and India’s Three-Stage Nuclear Programme
News Context
- Nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar called for early use of thorium-based fuel in PHWRs to cut dependence on imported uranium, and suggested HALEU-thorium fuel amid global uranium supply concerns.
Key Facts for Prelims
- Atomic number 90; occurs almost entirely as Th-232; fertile, not fissile — becomes fissile U-233 via protactinium-233; India holds ~25% of world thorium reserves but only 1-2% of world uranium; obtained mainly from monazite (AP, TN, Odisha, Kerala).
- Three-Stage Nuclear Programme (Homi Bhabha, 1950s): Stage I — PHWRs (natural uranium, heavy water); Stage II — Fast Breeder Reactors (plutonium-239 + U-238 blanket; PFBR Kalpakkam reached first criticality 6 April 2026 — India 2nd country after Russia with a commercial-scale FBR); Stage III — Thorium-based breeder reactors (U-233 + thorium; AHWR, molten salt designs) — still a long-term goal.
Source: Indian Express
