UPSC Current Affairs 24 September 2026

• Chemical Classification: A synthetic, ether alcohol aromatic preservative primarily utilized for its broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties.
• Primary Target: It is highly effective at destroying gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, making it the primary defensive barrier in water-based formulations.
• pH Stability: Unlike organic acids, POE is highly valued by formulators because it remains completely stable and active across a wide pH range (typically from 3 to 10).
• Application Scope: Extensively used as a beginner-friendly liquid preservative added during the cooldown phase of cosmetic manufacturing. It is common in lotions, facial serums, sunscreens, and wet wipes.
• Regulatory Limits: Strictly restricted to a maximum concentration of 1.0% in cosmetic applications globally (including EU, US FDA, and India).

• Chemical Classification: The sodium salt of benzoic acid (C₇H₅NaO₂), an organic acid compound. While synthesized for mass industrial use, benzoic acid occurs naturally in plants like cinnamon, cranberries, and cloves.
• Primary Target: It focuses heavily on preventing the proliferation of fungi, yeasts, and molds rather than targeting bacteria.
• The pH Constraint: SB is highly pH-dependent. It is ineffective in neutral or alkaline systems because it must convert into benzoic acid to pass through microbial cell walls. It requires an acidic pH environment below 5.5 (ideally 4.5 or lower) to function.
• Application Scope: Dual-purpose preservative used globally in acidic foods (sodas, pickles, fruit juices, salad dressings) and rinse-off personal care items like shampoos, oral toothpastes, and facial cleansers.
• Medical Utility: Beyond preservation, SB is an approved pharmaceutical drug (e.g., Ammonul, Buphenyl) used to treat urea cycle disorders and hyperammonemia by binding amino acids to excrete excess ammonia from the body.
• Safety / Benzene Caution: It is safe within standard thresholds (capped at 0.1% in foods by the FDA and up to 0.5%–1.0% in cosmetics). However, if SB is paired directly with Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) in beverages and exposed to high heat or UV light, it can degrade into benzene, a known carcinogen.

Feature	Phenoxyethanol (POE)	Sodium Benzoate (SB)
Antimicrobial Gap	Attacks Bacteria effectively but is weaker on fungi.	Attacks Molds and Yeasts but is weaker on bacteria.
pH Dependency	Operates uniformly across a broad pH range.	Strictly requires an acidic pH (< 5.5) to activate.
Industry Cross-Over	Exclusively Cosmetics & Personal Care.	Foods, Beverages, Cosmetics, & Pharma.

• Definition: The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is a unique 15-digit number that acts as a digital fingerprint to identify individual mobile devices on a telecom network.
• Structure: The first 8 digits make up the Type Allocation Code (TAC), which outlines the device's brand and model, managed globally by the GSMA.
• Dual-SIM Devices: If your phone supports two SIM cards, it will have two distinct IMEI numbers—one for each slot.

• Physical & Software Changes: It refers to intentionally removing, erasing, changing, or masking a device's unique identification number.
• Configurable Hardware/Software: Possessing, manufacturing, or using software or hardware tools specifically configured to alter these identifiers is entirely illegal.
• Network Spoofing: Altering the identifier makes a device look like a completely different model or a legitimate clean device on the cellular network.

• Imprisonment: Violators can face up to three years in prison.
• Monetary Fine: Courts can impose a financial penalty of up to ₹50 lakh (Rs 5 million), or order both jail time and a fine.
• Severity of Offence: These violations are classified as cognizable and non-bailable, meaning police can make arrests without a warrant, and bail is not a matter of right.
• Abetment: Anyone who helps, promotes, or acts as an accomplice to IMEI tampering receives the exact same punishment.

• Manufacturers & Importers: Must register all IMEI numbers on the official Device Setu – Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) Portal before any local sale, testing, or research takes place.
• Retailers & Resellers: Must ensure their inventory is completely untampered. Merchants dealing in second-hand or used phones must legally cross-verify IMEIs against the government’s central database of blacklisted devices.
• Brand Owners: Must ensure their products strictly comply with Indian cybersecurity frameworks and match valid GSMA TAC registrations.

• Prohibited Devices: Do not buy or use modems, modules, or SIM Boxes that feature configurable or tampered IMEIs.
• SIM Card Safeguards: Never procure a SIM using fake IDs, and never rent, loan, or sell your SIM card to anyone else, as you remain legally liable if it is used for fraud.
• Spoofing Tools: Avoid any third-party apps or websites that claim to modify your Calling Line Identity (CLI) or other carrier data.

• Dial Code: You can view your device's identity instantly by dialing *#06# from your keypad.
• Sanchar Saathi Verification: Use the government's official Sanchar Saathi Portal or its dedicated mobile application to verify the legitimacy, brand, and model of your handset.
• SMS Verification: Alternatively, text KYM <15-digit IMEI> to 14422 to receive official confirmation regarding your device's registered details.

• Who: An ancient Saharan Berber/Toubou-related people who established a kingdom in the Fezzan region of southwestern Libya.
• Period: Flourished roughly from 500 BCE to 700 CE, with peak urbanization between 100 BCE and 400 CE.
• Core area: Fezzan (Fazzan) desert oases, especially around Wadi al-Ajal; capital at Garama (modern Germa).

• The Foggara System: Without a single river to rely on, they engineered over 750 kilometres of underground tunnels called foggaras (qanats).
• Mining Fossil Water: These tunnels successfully tapped into ancient subterranean aquifers to extract non-renewable "fossil water".
• Desert in Bloom: This engineering allowed them to grow complex Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan crops—such as wheat, barley, grapes, olives, dates, and cotton—directly in the middle of the desert.

• Major Desert Capital: Their capital, Garama (modern-day Jarma or Germa), was a major urban hub holding up to 4,000 residents, with thousands more in surrounding suburbs.
• Distinct Architecture: Elites lived in sophisticated sandstone and mudbrick structures, and their dead were buried in unique, mini-pyramid tombs (mousolea and mastabas).
• Population Peak: Backed by their robust agricultural output, the entire kingdom supported a population that peaked near 50,000 people.

• Trans-Saharan Trade: They acted as the ultimate middlemen between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean coast. They traded gold, ivory, salt, and slaves for Roman luxury goods like fine pottery, glass, wine, and olive oil.
• Introduction of the Camel: The introduction of the camel vastly expanded their travel distances, driving a commercial "Golden Age" during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.
• Chariots and Cavalry: Known as expert horse breeders, their fast javelin cavalry and chariots allowed them to project military strength across the desert and secure trading routes.

• Depleted Aquifers: Because the groundwater they relied on was a non-renewable fossil resource, water levels began to drastically fall over centuries of intensive farming.
• The End: Compounded by a warming, increasingly arid climate, the foggaras eventually ran completely dry. By the late 7th century CE, their cities were entirely abandoned, bringing a tragic end to an ancient engineering marvel.

• Coordinates & Location: Situated in the Tasman Sea, roughly 600 kilometres east of Port Macquarie, Australia.
• Dimensions: A tiny footprint measuring roughly 11 kilometres long and only 2 kilometres at its widest point.
• Volcanic Origin: Formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago, leaving dramatic magma rock formations visible today.
• The Peaks: The southern landscape is dominated by two towering forested peaks—Mount Gower (875m) and Mount Lidgbird (760m).
• Lord Howe Island Group: Comprises 28 islands and rocks. The most famous satellite structure is Ball's Pyramid, a striking 562-meter-tall volcanic spire located 23 km to the southeast.

• UNESCO World Heritage Site: Inscribed in 1982 due to its spectacular topography and unique, isolated evolutionary history.
• Endemic Plant Life: Nearly 47% of its vascular plants are found nowhere else on Earth, including the world-famous Kentia Palm, which serves as a major economic export for the island.
• Unique Marine Life: It features the world's southernmost coral reef. Because of converging warm equatorial and cold polar currents, it hosts a unique mix of tropical fish and cold-water algae, including the endemic black-and-white Lord Howe clownfish.
• Rare Wildlife: Home to the Lord Howe Island Phasmid (the world's largest stick insect, once thought extinct) and the flightless Lord Howe Woodhen.

• Discovery: Uninhabited by indigenous populations, it was first sighted on February 17, 1788, by British Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, who named it after Admiral Richard Howe.
• Settlement: It permanently became a provisioning port for the whaling industry in June 1834.
• Human Population: It supports a small, tight-knit permanent population of fewer than 400 residents.

• End-to-End Coordination: At present, crime victims must navigate multiple uncoordinated channels—including the police, hospitals, courts, and state welfare departments. This centre acts as a single point of entry to consolidate those efforts.
• Single Standard Record: The centre will maintain a unified case record for every victim, systematically tracking entitlements until the case reaches total resolution or the victim seeks formal closure.

• Narrative Protection: Victims will no longer endure the trauma of repeatedly narrating the details of a crime before multiple distinct legal and medical authorities.
• Inter-Agency Accountability: The facility functions under strictly defined internal timelines to guarantee that state agencies provide timely, compassionate delivery of statutory financial and social relief.

• Legal Services Act: The centre is established under the statutory powers of Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, which mandates free and competent legal support to vulnerable sections of society.
• Systemic Integration: The project moves India's penal framework closer to global victim-centric models, aligning with international milestones like the UNODC Victim Support Standards and India's newly enforced victim protection laws.

• Hurricane Polo is recently in the news after rapidly intensifying into an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane in the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the most powerful Pacific cyclones recorded in decades.
• Driven by warm waters from El Niño, the storm jumped from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours, triggering mass evacuations, port closures, and widespread flood warnings across southwestern Mexico.

• Positioning: The storm has been lingering roughly 130 to 210 miles south-southwest of Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
• Movement: After stalling, it began a slow but sharp turn toward the northwest and west-northwest.
• Landfall Projections: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and meteorological agencies confirmed that Polo is not expected to make direct landfall on the mainland, instead skirting parallel to the coast. However, it may approach the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.

• Peak Strength: At its peak, the storm packed catastrophic maximum sustained winds of 165 to 180 mph.
• Current Status: It has fluctuated slightly down to a strong Category 4 storm with winds around 145–150 mph, but it remains a highly volatile and compact major hurricane.
• Wind Field: Hurricane-force winds extend up to 40 miles from its eye, while tropical storm-force winds reach up to 105 miles outward.

• El Niño Factor: Scientists from Colorado State University attribute the storm's hyper-intensification to El Niño, which has created exceptionally warm ocean temperatures and favourable wind patterns in the Pacific.
• Compact Structure: Polo's compact core allowed it to channel energy and strengthen far more quickly than larger, sprawling systems.

• States at High Risk: Five Mexican states are under strict monitoring and warnings: Guerrero, Michoacán, Colima, Oaxaca, and Jalisco.
• Rainfall and Flooding: The storm is dumping 4 to 8 inches of rain (with isolated pockets seeing up to 12 inches), threatening severe flash floods.
• Mudslides: The mountainous terrains of rural Guerrero face high risks of mudslides, causing panic among residents still traumatized by the destruction of Hurricane Otis.
• Dangerous Marine Conditions: Rough surf, massive ocean swells, and deadly rip currents have shut down normal beach and fishing activities.

• Challenging Physics Norms: In conventional crystalline solids, heat travels as particle-like packets of energy called phonons. In TlCu₅Se₃, heat transport transitions to a wave-like coherence where phonons effectively tunnel between vibrational states.
• The "Phonon Glass, Electron Crystal" Ideal: The material conducts electricity cleanly like a crystal, but blocks heat as effectively as glass.
• Ultralow Conductivity: It demonstrates an intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity (0.3–0.2 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ across temperatures ranging from 294–673 K).

• Complex "Knot-like" Architecture: TlCu₅Se₃ crystallises into a complex, three-dimensional cloverleaf knot-like framework featuring open channels.
• Confined Local Disorder: Many conventional materials achieve low thermal conductivity via highly mobile ions that move freely like a liquid (superionic conductors), but this triggers structural breakdown over time. In this compound, the copper (Cu) atoms are locked in place but undergo intense localized dynamic disorder (they "rattle" but cannot escape).
• Extreme Anharmonicity: This confined atomic rattling causes highly asymmetric atomic vibrations (anharmonicty), disrupting regular heat travel and causing the wave-like phonon transport.

• High Figure of Merit (zT): The material yields a thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) of 1.7 at 673 K.
• Top Tier Ranking: A 1.7 zT score places TlCu₅Se₃ among the highest-performing pristine ternary chalcogenide materials ever reported for thermoelectric energy transformation.

• Experimental Team: Led by Prof. Kanishka Biswas along with Ph.D. students Ms. Sayantoni Choudhury and Dr. Animesh Bhui from the New Chemistry Unit (NCU) at JNCASR.
• Theoretical Team: Advanced first-principles calculations and molecular simulations were spearheaded by Prof. Umesh V. Waghmare and Dr. Prasad V. Matukumilli from the Theoretical Sciences Unit (TSU) at JNCASR.

• Industrial Waste Heat Recovery: Capturing lost thermal energy from high-intensity environments like steel plants, cement factories, and power plants.
• Automotives & Electronics: Boosting fuel/energy efficiency in automobiles and managing internal temperatures in dense data centres.
• Advanced Tech: Thermal management in lithium batteries, structural thermal barrier coatings, and building decoherence-free quantum technologies.

• A torpedo jar fragment along with ancient terracotta ring wells were recently discovered underwater off the Poompuhar coast in the Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu.
• The discovery was made by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) during the third phase of an underwater exploration campaign that concluded on September 22, 2026.

• Design & Purpose: A torpedo jar is a tubular, thick-walled ceramic vessel featuring a narrow neck and a cylindrical body. Its specific torpedo-like shape was engineered to prevent liquids from spilling during rough voyages on cargo ships.
• Usage: They were primarily used to transport high-value liquid commodities such as wine, olive oil, and perfumes.
• Internal Coating: Historically, these jars were lined with bitumen (a natural tar-like substance) on the inside to make them completely waterproof and protect the liquids from leaking through the porous clay.
• Origin (Provenance): They are closely linked to West Asian, Persian Gulf, and Mesopotamian manufacturing hubs, particularly active during the Parthian, Sasanian, and early Islamic periods.

• The Fragment: The recovered piece is composed of a fine variety of ceramic. Based on its arc, archaeologists estimate the complete jar originally had a diameter of 30 cm to 35 cm.
• Location & Depth: The fragment was found 2 kilometres away from the modern coastline at a depth of 10 metres in the Bay of Bengal.
• The Ring Wells: Four intact terracotta ring wells (diameters ranging between 60 cm and 65 cm) were discovered on the ocean floor. Because ring wells are freshwater structures built on land, their presence strongly confirms a palaeochannel (an ancient, buried riverbed) once flowed here.
• Massive Ceramic Collection: Over 250 ceramic pieces, including West Asian glazed ware and paddle-impressed pottery from the Gangetic plains, were recovered across a two-square-kilometre survey zone.
• Parallel Sites: While this is the first underwater find, similar terrestrial torpedo jar fragments have been excavated at Sangam-era sites in Tamil Nadu, such as Alagankulam, Korkai, Porpanaikottai, and Vembakottai.

• Corroborating Tamil Epics: Ancient Tamil epics like Silappatikaram describe Poompuhar as a grand, bustling port city that was eventually swallowed by a catastrophic sea deluge. These underwater discoveries provide physical proof supporting those literary accounts.
• Diverse Trade Ecosystem: It underscores that ancient Tamil port cities did not just interact with the Roman/Mediterranean sphere (evident from previously found Roman amphorae jars) but maintained robust, sustained commercial ties with West Asian economies.

• Implementing Body: It is managed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
• Federated Model: Rather than completely overtaking individual state machinery, it acts as an aggregator and tracker. The underlying clearances are still verified by respective departments, but users access them from a unified dashboard.
• Single Business ID: The system uses the Permanent Account Number (PAN) as the primary business identification key. User authentication is reinforced using Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) and DigiLocker integration.

• Know Your Approvals (KYA) Module: An intelligent questionnaire system where an investor inputs proposed activities to get a customised checklist of necessary central and state permissions.
• Common Registration Form: Eliminates repetitive data entries. Information captured once through the interface can be reused across different applications.
• Centralised Document Repository: Investors upload critical business certificates and identity proofs just once, deploying them securely for any future applications.
• E-Communication & Queries: A dedicated module allows applicants to respond directly to specific departmental counter-queries and track resolution timelines.
• Integrated Payments: All applicable statutory fees for approvals can be paid electronically through the portal.

• Massive Approvals Footprint: The platform hosts 327 Central approvals and 3,452 State approvals spanning across 34 States and Union Territories.
• Top Performing States: Assam (335 approvals), Karnataka (327), Tamil Nadu (223), and Manipur (190) host the highest volume of integrated clearances.
• Onboarded Entities: More than 5.69 lakh business entities—including sole proprietorships, LLPs, corporate giants, and foreign entities—are active on the system.
• Application Load: The system averages over 3.06 lakh applications annually, facilitating more than 2.26 lakh clearances every year.
• Flagship Schemes Gateway: It processes permissions for major national missions, including the Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIF-P) for FDI, National Green Hydrogen Mission, Startup India, and the Ethanol Policy.

• Enhancing Ease of Doing Business (EoDB): By converting physical administrative hurdles into a single digital checkpoint, it reduces the compliance burden and slashes business-setup timelines.
• Promoting Transparency: The real-time tracking feature brings higher accountability and cuts down on institutional corruption or bureaucratic delays.
• Aiding Make in India: Streamlined entry barriers attract higher Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and support local manufacturing sectors.

• Pyrolysis: The most common industrial method where plastic waste is heated between 300°C and 700°C in an oxygen-free environment. This vaporizes the plastic, which is then condensed into liquid "pyrolysis oil" resembling diesel or petrol.
• Gasification: Plastic reacts with a gasifying agent at extremely high temperatures to produce synthesis gas (syngas), which can be utilized to generate electricity or produce specialized chemical fuels.
• Catalytic Thermo Liquefaction (CTL) / Mild Cracking: A chemical approach that uses specific catalysts or molten salts (like the newly discovered aluminum-based salts) to drive the breakdown at lower temperatures, making the conversion safer and highly energy-efficient.

• Resource Recovery: It brings the carbon life cycle full circle by converting plastic back into the very petroleum fractions (like naphtha and crude derivatives) from which it was made.
• High Fuel Yields: Depending on the type of plastic and technology used, processes can yield anywhere from 60% to 95% clean, liquid fuel equivalents.
• Self-Sustaining Energy: Modern plants capture non-condensable gases (like methane) produced during the process and route them back to heat the reactors, drastically lowering operating costs.
• Valuable By-products: The residual solids left behind after processing produce carbon black, an important industrial commodity heavily purchased by the rubber and paint industries.

• Not True Circular Recycling: Critics note that this process is a "downward supply chain" move rather than a closed-loop economy. Instead of keeping carbon locked up in a solid loop (e.g., turning an old plastic bottle into a new plastic bottle), the fuel will eventually be burned, releasing greenhouse gases.
• Feedstock Contamination: Certain common plastics like PVC (polyvinyl chloride) are notoriously hard to process because their high chlorine content produces toxic emissions and corrosive hydrochloric acid if not specifically managed with specialized chemistry.
• Pre-treatment Costs: Plastic waste must still go through intense, water-consuming sorting, cleaning, and shredding stages before it can safely enter chemical reactors.

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