News Context

• UNEP has released a new report titled “Limiting Overshoot.” For the first time, the UN has admitted the world will cross the 1.5°C global warming limit in the next few years, laying out an “Overshoot, Peak, and Decline” pathway as the best remaining option.

Key Facts for Prelims

• Climate Overshoot: The world temporarily crosses the 1.5°C limit (Paris Agreement) and returns below it later via emission cuts and carbon removal.
• Even if all countries meet climate plans and net-zero targets, peak warming will still hit 1.8°C; under current policies, the world heads toward ~2.6°C by 2100.
• Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is now essential, not optional; the remaining 1.5°C carbon budget will likely be exhausted before 2030.
• Methane focus (first for UN): Methane contributes ~0.5°C of warming; cutting it is the most effective near-term lever to slow warming.

Background

• Paris Agreement (2015): limit warming to well below 2°C, ideally 1.5°C.
• COP30 (2025, Belém): the “Global Mutirão” decision was the first COP text to admit a temporary overshoot is likely. COP31 will be hosted by Türkiye and Australia/Pacific.
• UNEP is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya; also publishes the Emissions Gap and Adaptation Gap Reports.

News Context

• A study valued the Pichavaram Mangrove ecosystem (Tamil Nadu) at a Total Economic Value of ₹2,485.38 crore (~₹1.83 crore per hectare), highlighting mangroves’ role as a “blue carbon” sink.

Key Facts for Prelims

• Pichavaram is located near Chidambaram (Cuddalore district), between the Vellar and Coleroon (Kollidam) river estuaries, on the Bay of Bengal coast.
• Mangroves: salt-tolerant plants of tropical/subtropical intertidal zones, with stilt roots and pneumatophores (breathing roots).
• Blue Carbon: carbon captured/stored by coastal ecosystems — mainly mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes, mostly in soil/sediment.
• Ecosystem services (MEA classification): provisioning (fish, timber, honey), regulating (storm buffer, carbon storage), supporting (nursery, biodiversity), cultural (ecotourism).

Do You Know

• World’s largest mangrove forest: Sundarbans (India-Bangladesh), a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• India’s mangroves are protected under CRZ norms; related efforts include the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) and the MISHTI Scheme (Budget 2023-24). India is a Ramsar Convention signatory.

Key Facts for Prelims

• Botanical name: Allium cepa (Amaryllidaceae/Liliaceae family); a bulbous, biennial crop grown as an annual.
• Ideal conditions: temperature 13–25°C (cool 15–21°C early, warm-dry at maturity); rainfall 650–1000 mm; deep, friable, well-drained sandy loam to loam soil, pH 6.0–7.5.
• Photoperiod-sensitive: Indian varieties are mostly short-day types, needing ~10–13 hours of light for bulb formation.

Cropping Seasons & Production Geography

• Three seasons: Kharif (harvest Oct–Dec), Late Kharif (Jan–Mar), Rabi (Mar–May) — Rabi has the largest share (~65–70%) and is best for storage/buffer.
• World’s largest producer: China; India is 2nd largest. Leading Indian State: Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan.
• Lasalgaon (Nashik, Maharashtra) is Asia’s largest onion wholesale market.

News Context

• SC judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan questioned why the constitutional provision allowing a “distinguished jurist” to be appointed a Supreme Court judge, under Article 124(3), has never been used in over 76 years.

Key Facts for Prelims

• Article 124(3) lays down three routes to become an SC judge: a High Court judge for 5+ years, OR an advocate of a High Court for 10+ years, OR, in the President’s opinion, a “distinguished jurist.”
• The Constitution does NOT define “distinguished jurist” and prescribes no minimum experience for this route.
• The 42nd Amendment (1976) allowed a “distinguished jurist” as a High Court judge too (Article 217), but this was removed by the 44th Amendment (1978) — the route now exists only for the Supreme Court.

News Context

• The Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) upgraded India’s sovereign credit rating by one notch, from ‘BBB+’ to ‘A-’, citing high growth, growth-oriented policies and an improved financial system.

Key Facts for Prelims

• A higher sovereign credit rating lets India borrow at lower interest rates, reduces the exchequer’s interest burden and boosts investor confidence.
• Ratings range from AAA (safest) to D (default); ‘BBB-’ and above = Investment Grade; below = “Junk” Grade. India’s upgrade moves it higher within investment grade.
• Reasons cited: ~7% growth, robust private consumption and public investment, GST and Digital Public Infrastructure reforms, and financial-system stability.

Do You Know

• The “Big Three” global agencies: S&P, Moody’s, Fitch. Domestic agencies (SEBI-regulated): CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, India Ratings & Research.
• India has often argued global agencies use an “opaque methodology” that underrates emerging economies like it.

News Context

• At a NITI Aayog stakeholder consultation, private players demanded “green energy” status for nuclear power so nuclear projects can access green bonds, green loans and blended financing — linked to India’s push for 100 GWe of nuclear power by 2047.

Key Facts for Prelims

• Green Bonds: debt instruments whose proceeds fund only climate/environment-friendly projects; India issued its first Sovereign Green Bonds in 2022-23.
• Blended Finance: combining public/philanthropic funds with private capital for otherwise risky projects.
• Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure Sub-sectors: maintained by the Department of Economic Affairs, defines which sectors qualify as “infrastructure.”
• SHANTI Act (Strategic Highway for Atomic aNd Technological Independence): reforms to open up and boost the nuclear sector; final rules expected in 2–3 months.
• India’s nuclear sector is governed mainly by the Atomic Energy Act, 1962; amendments to it and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 are key to enabling private participation.