Daily Current Affairs — September 07, 2026

India has completed one decade of the Flexible Inflation Targeting (FIT) framework, originally instituted in 2016. A ten-year empirical review published in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) evaluated the real-world efficacy of this monetary architecture. The assessment revealed that while average inflation dropped from 6.8% in the pre-FIT period to 4.9% between 2016 and 2026, structural hurdles such as a flat New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC) and unanchored household inflation expectations continue to challenge demand-driven monetary tightening.

Under the statutory framework of Section 45-ZA of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934 (inserted via the Finance Act, 2016 based on the Urjit Patel Committee recommendations), the Central Government, in consultation with the RBI, fixes the inflation target every five years. The target has been retained at 4% with a tolerance band of +/- 2% (2% to 6%) for the period extending from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031, using the Headline Consumer Price Index (CPI-Combined).

Key analytical concerns highlighted include:

• Flat Phillips Curve: Empirical data between April 2012 and March 2026 shows a weak trade-off between domestic output and inflation, meaning aggressive repo rate hikes risk suppressing economic growth and employment without achieving proportionate disinflation.
• Informal Sector Wage Dynamics: Since nearly 92% of India's workforce is in the informal sector with little wage-bargaining power, standard New Keynesian assumptions of wage-push inflation do not hold.
• Supply-Side Drivers: Indian retail inflation is structurally dominated by food and fuel shocks, which monetary tools cannot directly rectify.

To bolster the efficacy of monetary policy without inducing unnecessary growth penalties, structural reforms have been proposed. These include establishing a institutionalized Joint Food Inflation Response Cell between the RBI and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, setting explicit indicators for monitoring second-round inflationary effects, enhancing interest rate pass-through to informal finance (via NBFCs and MFIs), and reintroducing liquid Retail Inflation-Indexed Bonds to prevent household flight into physical gold assets.

The Supreme Court of India invoked its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) registered across various states in connection with nationwide student examination protests. By directly terminating criminal proceedings based on an administrative compromise, the Court bypassed the traditional statutory procedure under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (formerly Section 482 CrPC), reigniting constitutional debate regarding the boundaries between judicial activism, excessive discretion, and the doctrine of separation of powers.

Article 142(1) empowers the Supreme Court to pass any decree or make any order necessary for doing 'complete justice' in any cause or matter pending before it. Key constitutional dynamics include:

• Colonial Precedent & Drafting: Derived from Section 210 of the Government of India Act, 1935, and drafted as Draft Article 118, it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949 without formal debate, deliberately leaving the concept of 'complete justice' undefined.
• Judicial Guardrails: In Prem Chand Garg v. State of UP (1962), the apex court ruled that orders under Article 142 cannot infringe Fundamental Rights. In Supreme Court Bar Association v. Union of India (1998), a Constitution Bench established that Article 142 cannot supplant substantive statutory law, but only supplement it.
• Polyvocal Concerns: Given that the Supreme Court functions largely through Division Benches of two judges, unchecked reliance on Article 142 risks unpredictable and subjective jurisprudence across different benches.

The widespread invocation of Article 142—ranging from the Union Carbide Bhopal Gas Tragedy case (1989) and Vishaka Guidelines (1997) to the Ayodhya Land Dispute (2019)—underscores its utility as an equitable relief mechanism. However, institutional integrity demands that such plenary powers be strictly governed by reasoned orders, applied as a curative measure of last resort, or restricted to Constitution Benches of at least five judges to preserve institutional coherence and inter-branch balance.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Earth Observation Satellite-05 (EOS-05) aboard the GSLV-F17 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The mission represents a major technological leap as EOS-05 is India’s first dedicated imaging spacecraft positioned in a Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), earning it the operational title of an 'unblinking eye in the sky'.

Unlike traditional Earth observation satellites that traverse Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 160 km and 2,000 km with rapid orbital periods (90–120 minutes) and periodic revisiting gaps, EOS-05 operates at approximately 35,786 km above the Earth:

• Persistent Real-Time Surveillance: By matching Earth's rotational period (23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds), EOS-05 maintains constant, uninterrupted coverage over the Indian subcontinent and neighboring maritime zones.
• Launch Vehicle Architecture: The GSLV-F17 is a three-stage launch vehicle consisting of a solid-propellant core with four liquid strap-on stages, a liquid second stage, and an Indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS).
• Spacecraft Specifications: Weighing 2,367 kg, EOS-05 was initially injected into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO) and will use its onboard Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) for final station-keeping.

EOS-05 transforms India's meteorological monitoring and strategic disaster warning systems. With real-time optical and infrared sensors, it offers high-cadence tracking of rapidly developing weather disruptions, such as cyclones, cloudbursts, forest fires, and flash floods. Furthermore, continuous regional observation provides critical border and maritime surveillance support, drastically closing the latency gap inherent in low-altitude satellite constellations.

India's push for round-the-clock baseload clean energy achieved momentum following the implementation of the National Policy on Geothermal Energy and the operationalization of the nation's first two exploratory geothermal wells at Puga Valley in Ladakh, developed by the ONGC Energy Centre. This milestone transitions India from theoretical geological mapping to tangible field exploitation of subterranean thermal resources.

Geothermal energy harnesses the Earth's internal heat, primarily created through the radioactive decay of long-lived isotopes (uranium, thorium, potassium-40) and residual primordial heat:

• Resource Potential: The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has mapped 381 hot springs and identified 10 major geothermal provinces, estimating India's total theoretical potential at 10.6 GW across 42 viable sites.
• Major Geothermal Provinces: Key provinces include the Himalayan Belt (Puga and Manikaran), SONATA (Son-Narmada-Tapi) corridor, Cambay Graben, West Coast, Godavari, and Mahanadi basins.
• Subsurface Physics: The Earth's core reaches 5,000–6,000°C. In tectonically fractured regimes like the trans-Himalayas, groundwater contacts heated rock formations, producing high-enthalpy steam capable of running power-generating turbines.
• Advanced Systems: Exploration is increasingly leveraging Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and the repurposing of depleted, abandoned hydrocarbon wells.

Geothermal power provides a continuous capacity utilization factor exceeding 80–90%, making it a weather-independent complement to intermittent solar and wind systems. In high-altitude border regions such as Ladakh, geothermal installations offer localized electricity, heating for military defense outposts, and agricultural greenhouses during freezing winters, directly bolstering India's Net-Zero 2070 decarbonization agenda.

The Decentralised Grain Storage Plan in the Cooperative Sector, introduced to create the world's largest cooperative-led foodgrain storage infrastructure, demonstrated notable physical progress. After an initial pilot across 11 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in 11 states, over 1,012 cooperative societies have been selected, with 313 PACS already completing godown construction, adding over 1.80 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of modern rural storage capacity.

The framework establishes a decentralized, bottom-up storage and logistics network through the convergence of existing Central Sector schemes:

• Inter-Scheme Synergies: Integrates the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) (interest subvention), the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) Scheme (capital subsidies increased from 25% to 33.33%), the Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), and the PMFME scheme.
• Institutional Architecture: The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) serves as the apex implementing agency, guided by District Cooperative Development Committees (DCDCs) and State Cooperative Development Committees (SCDCs).
• Financial Mechanics: Utilizing NABARD's special refinance facility and the 3% interest subvention under AIF, PACS access financing at an effective interest rate of just 1%.
• Assured Offtake: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) offers guaranteed hiring agreements for eligible PACS godowns conforming to Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) standards.

Decentralized storage addresses structural post-harvest bottlenecks by eliminating distress sales by smallholders, curbing transportation inefficiencies to centralized state warehouses, and minimizing transit foodgrain loss. Converting PACS into integrated rural service centers strengthens the cooperative credit architecture and fortifies localized food security under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Archaeologists working near Wrocław in southwest Poland unearthed an adult male burial belonging to the prehistoric Corded Ware culture. The burial contained a 42-tooth animal necklace, stone weaponry, and skeletal remains dating back over 4,500 years, providing crucial evidence regarding prehistoric social organization, migration dynamics, and the pastoral transition across Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe.

The Corded Ware culture flourished between approximately 3000 BC and 2350 BC, spanning the late Neolithic, Copper Age (Chalcolithic), and early Bronze Age:

• Geographical Horizon: Covered an extensive territory stretching from the Rhine River in Western Europe to the Volga River in the East, spanning Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe.
• Ceramic Nomenclature: Coined in 1883 by German archaeologist Friedrich Klopfleisch, the name originates from geometric cord-like patterns pressed into wet clay using twisted cords before firing.
• Steppe Migrations: Genetic and archaeological data connect the culture's emergence to the westward expansion of pastoralists from the Yamnaya culture of the Pontic-Caspian steppe, playing a central role in dispersing Indo-European languages.
• Synonymous Designations: Also termed the 'Single Grave culture' due to its solitary tumulus burial customs, and the 'Battle Axe culture' owing to the presence of boat-shaped polished stone axes in male interments.

This discovery challenges the notion that Corded Ware populations were strictly nomadic pastoralists. The presence of agricultural traces (barley and emmer wheat) in Polish sites demonstrates a hybrid economy combining animal husbandry, wheeled transport driven by oxen, and sedentary farming, offering critical parallels for studying early metallurgical and agrarian transformations across Eurasia.

The German armed forces (Bundeswehr) successfully conducted live-fire sea trials of the LORA (Long Range Artillery) ballistic missile in the North Atlantic. Developed originally by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the operational testing marks an expanding European trend of procuring road-mobile and maritime-capable short-range precision-strike ballistic missile systems to bolster territorial deterrence.

The LORA is a modern short-range, quasi-ballistic missile system operational since 2007:

• Propulsion & Dimensions: It is a single-stage, solid-propellant missile measuring 5.2 meters in length, 0.624 meters in diameter, with a launch weight of roughly 1,600 kg.
• Operational Range & Payload: Possesses an effective operational strike radius of 280 km to 430 km, carrying high-explosive (HE), blast-fragmentation, or submunition warheads weighing up to 600 kg.
• Guidance & Flight Dynamics: Operates via a combined Inertial Navigation System (INS) paired with GPS and optical terminal TV guidance, featuring in-flight maneuverability to evade anti-ballistic missile interception shields.
• Deployment Flexibility: Can be launched from 4-cell sealed canisters mounted on heavy cross-country trucks or standard naval container vessels.

The deployment of dual-capable (ground and naval) ballistic strike systems underscores shifts in contemporary multi-domain warfare. By providing deep-strike precision against hardened infrastructure, radar sites, and naval landing hubs without relying on air support, containerized ballistic missiles like LORA represent a cost-effective anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) weapon.

The Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) launched the third phase of offshore underwater archaeological exploration off the coast of Poompuhar (ancient Kaveripoompattinam) in the Mayiladuthurai district. The marine excavations aim to map submerged port structures, breakwaters, and harbor antiquities of this ancient coastal capital dating back to the Sangam era.

Poompuhar occupies a celebrated position in peninsular Indian maritime history:

• Etymology & Geography: Situated at the estuary where the Cauveri River debouches into the Bay of Bengal, the term 'Puhar' in classical Tamil specifically denotes a riverine estuary meeting the ocean.
• Historical Identity: Served as the thriving secondary capital and prime emporium of the Early Chola dynasty during the Sangam period (particularly under King Karikala Chola).
• Literary Attestations: The grandeur, maritime trade, merchant settlements, and monumental warehouses of Puhar are vividly described in twin Tamil epics—Silappathikaram (composed by Ilango Adigal) and Manimekalai (by Sittalai Sattanar)—as well as the Sangam poem Pattinappalai.
• Submersion Theories: The historical city was repeatedly inundated and destroyed by severe marine transgressions and historical tsunami events, leading to its offshore submerged state.

Underwater explorations off Poompuhar, deploying side-scan sonars, sub-bottom profilers, and deep-sea divers, provide empirical validation of ancient Indian trans-oceanic trade across the Indian Ocean rim and Roman world. Uncovering pottery dating to the 4th century BCE establishes the antiquity of Tamilakam's maritime networks, directly linking Sangam literature to material archaeological evidence.

Sasthamcotta Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in Kerala and an internationally recognized Ramsar Site, has been brought under enhanced environmental surveillance by the State Wetland Authority following anthropogenic incursions, bank erosion, and localized water quality degradation in its peripheral reaches.

Sasthamcotta Lake possesses unique limnological and geographical characteristics:

• Geographical Context: Located in the Kollam district of Kerala, covering an extent of approximately 375 hectares, it is surrounded by steep lateritic hills on three sides and flanked by an earthen bund on the south separating it from adjoining paddy fields.
• Hydrological Source: Unlike typical river-fed lakes, Sasthamcotta is replenished entirely by underground springs, without any surface inlet or outlet channels.
• Natural Bio-Purification: The pristine clarity and biological purity of its water are scientifically attributed to abundant populations of the phantom midge larva Chaoborus (locally termed cavaborus), which actively consumes pathogenic bacteria and organic debris.
• Ecological Status: Designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in November 2002, it sustains 27 indigenous freshwater fish species and rare avifauna.

Sasthamcotta is the principal drinking water lifeline for Kollam municipal corporation and surrounding rural districts. Preserving its laterite catchment against illegal sand mining, excessive groundwater withdrawal, and agricultural agrochemical runoff is critical to preserving its subterranean aquifers and maintaining ecological balance under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA).

Man-animal conflict incidents along the riparian river islands of Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam have highlighted the sanctuary's role as a vital corridor for mega-herbivores and predators within the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River system.

Bura Chapori constitutes an integral component of the Laokhowa-Burachapori Eco-complex:

• Location & Extent: Encompassing 44.06 sq. km on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River in Assam’s Sonitpur district (with buffers extending toward Nagaon).
• Strategic Wildlife Corridor: Forms a critical migratory stepping stone positioned between Kaziranga National Park to the east and Orang National Park to the west, buffered by Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary to the south.
• Habitat Matrix: Represents a mosaic of wet alluvial grasslands, riparian forests, wetlands, and riverine sandbars (chaporis) subject to annual monsoon flooding.
• Key Fauna: Protects the Great Indian One-horned Rhinoceros (Vulnerable), Royal Bengal Tiger, Asian Elephant, Wild Water Buffalo, and the critically endangered Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis).

Due to extensive seasonal shifting of the Brahmaputra River course, maintaining contiguous chapori (sandbank) vegetation is critical to facilitating genetic exchange between fragmented populations of rhinos and tigers in Kaziranga and Orang. Habitat restoration and anti-poaching vigilance remain foundational to Assam’s long-term megafauna conservation strategies.

The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) convened its annual plenary session in Vladivostok, Russia. High-level delegations from key Asian powers—including India, China, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Myanmar—participated in discussions aimed at channeling foreign investment, technology, and trade logistics into the resource-rich but sparsely populated Russian Far East.

The Eastern Economic Forum serves as Russia's premier geopolitical and commercial platform for integrating its eastern territories with the wider Asia-Pacific economy:

• Establishment: Founded by a decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015, held annually on the campus of Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.
• Geography of Russian Far East: Spans over 40% of Russia's total landmass across four time zones, bordering two oceans (the Pacific and the Arctic) and five nations (China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, and the US via the Bering Strait).
• Resource Endowments: Houses nearly one-third of Russia's coal reserves, vast hydroelectric potential, and rich deposits of diamonds, gold, crude oil, natural gas, and timber.
• Corridor Linkages: Hosts crucial connectivity projects including the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC) and the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

For India, active engagement in the EEF aligns directly with its 'Act Far East' policy (formulated in 2019 alongside a $1 billion Line of Credit). Deepening ties provides India with energy security (coking coal, LNG, and oil), creates employment avenues for skilled Indian labor, and offers geopolitical balance in Eurasia amid shifting Western trade restrictions.

Condensed matter physicists discovered an unexpected, non-traditional manifestation of the Hall Effect, disproving a 140-year-old scientific assumption that this transverse electromagnetic response occurs solely when an external magnetic field is aligned strictly perpendicular to the direction of electrical current flow.

The Hall Effect is a cornerstone principle of classical and quantum electrodynamics:

• Discovery: Discovered in 1879 by American physicist Edwin H. Hall. When a current-carrying conductor or semiconductor is exposed to a perpendicular magnetic field, moving charge carriers experience a transverse deflection known as the Lorentz Force ($F = q(E + v \times B)$).
• Charge Accumulation: This deflection drives negative electrons to one side and positive charges to the opposite edge, establishing a measurable potential difference perpendicular to both current and magnetic field, termed the Hall Voltage.
• Semiconductor Response: Due to higher electron drift velocity in semiconductors such as silicon and germanium, the Hall voltage is significantly higher than in metallic conductors.
• Recent Breakthrough: Researchers demonstrated that a Hall response linked to internal magnetization can be elicited along non-perpendicular, multi-directional vectors, opening new avenues in topological physics.

The discovery of multidirectional Hall responses provides a new framework for exploring exotic quantum states, non-collinear antiferromagnets, and topological structures in condensed matter systems. Practically, it paves the way for designing high-density spintronic memory devices, ultra-precise quantum Hall sensors, and next-generation contactless microelectronics.