Why in News

• NSO’s new National Accounts Statistics (NAS) series shows manufacturing GVA at ₹38.6 lakh crore for 2023-24, but an Alternative Estimate puts it at only ₹27.4 lakh crore — a 40.9% gap, raising doubts about how India measures manufacturing output.

Key Concepts

• GVA: Output − Intermediate Consumption; measures a sector’s contribution. GDP = GVA + Product Taxes − Product Subsidies. GVA at basic prices, GDP at market prices.
• Manufacturing = 14.7% of GDP (2023-24).

Data Sources & Institutions

• NSO (MoSPI) compiles NAS; formed by merging CSO and NSSO.
• ASI covers the organised/factory sector; ASUSE covers the informal/unincorporated sector; PLFS gives employment data; MCA-21 gives company balance-sheet data (Ministry of Corporate Affairs).

Structure of Manufacturing

• Organised sector: registered factories (10+ workers with power, or 20+ without); data from ASI + MCA-21.
• Unincorporated sector: small workshops/household units; data from ASUSE; only 13.9% share in manufacturing GVA.
• Base year for current GDP series: 2011-12 (2022-23 revision under way). Make in India (2014) target: 25% of GDP.

Why in News

• CAQM is working with ISRO and Punjab/Haryana to improve tracking of farm fires before winter, as satellite fire counts miss evening burning done to dodge detection.

CAQM — Key Facts

• Statutory body under the CAQM Act, 2021; replaced the SC-appointed EPCA.
• Jurisdiction: Delhi-NCR + adjoining areas of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP.
• Its orders override other laws; only the NGT hears appeals.

Stubble Burning — Core Concept

• Burning paddy stubble to quickly clear fields for wheat sowing — cheapest, fastest option given the short harvest-to-sowing window.
• Worsens in Oct-Nov: monsoon withdrawal stalls winds that flush pollution; cool still air traps particulate matter over Delhi-NCR.
• Contribution: up to 15% of winter particulate matter, spiking to nearly 44% on peak weeks.

Pollution Terms & Solutions

• PM2.5 (≤2.5 microns, most dangerous) vs PM10 (≤10 microns). AQI ranges: Good (0-50) to Severe (401-500).
• Solutions: Happy/Super Seeder, Pusa Bio-Decomposer (ICAR-IARI), ex-situ use (biomass power, bio-CNG, ethanol), in-situ mixing.

Why in News

• WMO warned El Nino may become the strongest ever recorded, likely persisting into February 2027 due to unusually warm Pacific temperatures — raising risks of extreme weather worldwide.

El Nino — Core Concept

• Periodic warming of central/eastern Pacific sea surface temperatures near Peru/Ecuador, caused by weakening trade winds. Occurs every 2-7 years, lasts 9-12 months.
• Effects in India: weakens the monsoon (drought risk), heatwaves. El Nino ≠ automatic drought, but raises the probability.
• La Nina (opposite): cooling from strengthening trade winds; usually brings above-normal Indian monsoon rainfall.

ENSO & Related Terms

• ENSO combines the oceanic (El Nino/La Nina) and atmospheric (Southern Oscillation) parts; measured by the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) between Tahiti and Darwin.
• Walker Circulation: east-west Pacific air movement, weakens/reverses during El Nino.
• Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD): SST difference between western and eastern Indian Ocean — positive IOD can offset El Nino’s negative monsoon effect.

Why in News

• Belgian PM Bart De Wever visited India (September 2026) — first Belgian PM visit in two decades. India and Belgium signed three defence agreements, set up an Investment Fast-Track Mechanism, and agreed to double bilateral trade in five years.

Quick Facts on Belgium

• Capital: Brussels — also HQ of the EU and NATO. Borders France, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg. Antwerp: major global diamond trading hub. Founding member of EU and NATO.

Key Outcomes

• Defence: Letter of Intent on Defence Cooperation; MoUs on defence industry and CBI-Belgian Federal Police cooperation; India to appoint a Defence Attaché in Brussels.
• Trade: Investment Fast-Track Mechanism; goal to double bilateral trade in 5 years; trade at $13.01 billion (2025-26); Belgian FDI ~$4.2 billion since 2000.
• Other: Cooperation on semiconductors, renewable energy, fintech; new Consular Dialogue.
• Belgium is an important EU gateway for India, which is negotiating an India-EU FTA.

Why in News

• Bihar and Jharkhand signed an inter-state MoU ending their 25-year Sone river water dispute — Bihar gets 5.75 MAF, Jharkhand gets 2 MAF, clearing the path for long-delayed irrigation and reservoir projects.

About Sone River

• Origin: near Amarkantak Plateau, MP (same source region as the Narmada). Flows generally northward — unusual for a peninsular river.
• Route: MP → UP → Jharkhand-Bihar boundary → joins the Ganga near Patna. A major right-bank tributary of the Ganga, one of its largest after the Yamuna.
• Key tributaries: Rihand, North Koel, Ghaghar.

Constitutional & Legal Angle

• Article 262: Parliament can legislate on inter-state river disputes; bars courts (even SC) from jurisdiction.
• Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 — provides for tribunals. Entry 17 (State List) = water; Entry 56 (Union List) = inter-state river regulation.

Why in News

• NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (August 30) aboard a SpaceX rocket, to study dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets.

Key Facts

• Named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, the “Mother of Hubble.”
• Operates from Lagrange Point 2 (L2), ~1.5 million km from Earth — same zone as James Webb. Capability lies between Hubble and James Webb. Weight: ~8,000 kg.

Exoplanets & Lagrange Points

• Exoplanets: planets outside our Solar System orbiting another star; 6,000+ discovered so far.
• 5 Lagrange Points (L1-L5) — points where gravity of two large bodies balances a smaller object. L1: India’s Aditya-L1. L2: James Webb and now Roman Telescope.