Why in news?

The Centre has approved adding a third and fourth rail line on the 32 km Badlapur–Karjat stretch in Maharashtra, extending the Mumbai Suburban Corridor and strengthening a key segment of the 1,238-km Mumbai–Chennai High Density Network (HDN).

This corridor—one of India’s most saturated—links Mumbai to Chennai via Pune, Solapur, Guntakal and Arakkonam.

The decision is part of Indian Railways’ broader plan to decongest all seven High Density Network corridors, which make up just 16% of the total network but carry 41% of all rail traffic.

As passenger and freight demand surges, expanding and improving the HDN has become crucial to ensuring smoother, more efficient railway operations.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About High Density Network (HDN)
• India’s Seven High Density Rail Corridors: Nationwide Coverage
• Future Congestion Projections
• Line Expansion: The Core Strategy for Decongestion

About High Density Network (HDN)

• The HDN comprises passenger–freight corridors where train operations are running beyond optimal capacity, causing congestion, delays, and reduced efficiency.
• Out of 69,181 route-km of Indian Railways, the HDN accounts for 11,051 route-km (15.97%).
• These highly saturated corridors are divided into 237 sections, each with varying levels of utilisation.
• HDN Is Overloaded
  • A rail network ideally functions at 70–80% capacity for smooth operations.
  • The HDN far exceeds this:
    • Only 4.60% of HDN routes operate below 80% capacity
    • 18.89% operate at 80–100%
    • 32.75% at 100–120%
    • 29.53% at 120–150%
    • 14.11% run at over 150% capacity
  • This means 95% of the HDN runs above the optimal threshold, many well beyond designed limits.
  • A majority of HDN sections operate at stress levels where delays and bottlenecks are unavoidable.
• An Example: The Overburdened Karjat–Lonavala Section
  • On the 28-km Karjat–Lonavala stretch (part of the Mumbai–Chennai HDN):
    • 67 trains run each way per day
    • Maximum capacity: 40 trains
  • This results in 167% capacity utilisation — far above ideal levels.
• How HDN Compares With the Overall Indian Railways Network?
  • According to the National Rail Plan (2051 vision document):
    • 45% of the entire Indian Railways network operates below 70% utilisation
    • 29% operates at 70–100%
    • 25% runs at 100–150%
    • Only 1% exceeds 150% utilisation
  • In contrast, the HDN is severely overloaded, highlighting why expansion and decongestion of these seven corridors is a top priority.

India’s Seven High Density Rail Corridors: Nationwide Coverage

• The High Density Network (HDN) spans all four regions of India, consisting of seven highly saturated corridors:
  • Howrah–Delhi (1,422 km) - Only 31.34 km (just two sections) operate below 80% capacity. The entire remaining corridor is heavily saturated.
  • Howrah–Mumbai (2,039 km) - Only 85.2 km operates below 80% capacity. Most of this Golden Diagonal corridor faces high congestion due to intensive freight and passenger load.
  • Mumbai–Delhi (1,322 km) - One of the only two HDNs without any section exceeding 150% utilisation. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) runs parallel, absorbing freight pressure.
  • Delhi–Guwahati (1,876 km) - A staggering 96% of the corridor operates above 80% utilisation. Faces both heavy passenger movement and significant freight demand.
  • Delhi–Chennai (2,037 km) - Nearly 52% of the corridor is running at 120–150% capacity, one of the highest saturation ratios in the network.
  • Howrah–Chennai (1,117 km) - 50% of this corridor operates at 120–150% utilisation, indicating tight capacity.
  • Mumbai–Chennai Corridor - Almost 90% of the corridor sees utilisation in the 80–120% range. This corridor remains extremely busy, with several sections nearing saturation.

Future Congestion Projections

• The National Rail Plan warns that without major upgrades, HDN congestion will rise dramatically:
  • By 2051, no HDN section will operate below 100% capacity utilisation.
  • 92% of the HDN will exceed 150% utilisation, far beyond safe or efficient levels.
• Near-Term Outlook: Heavy Overload by 2031
  • By 2031, the HDN is projected to be severely overstretched:
    • 50% of HDN will operate above 150% utilisation
    • 39% between 100–150%
    • Only 9% will remain within 70–100% capacity
  • This indicates that demand growth is outpacing infrastructure expansion.

Line Expansion: The Core Strategy for Decongestion

• While multiple operational reforms help improve train movement, line expansion—doubling, tripling, quadrupling, and even penta/hexa lining—is the most critical decongestion measure.
• Recent Progress in Line Expansion
  • Indian Railways has aggressively expanded capacity:
    • 1,983 km completed in 2021–22
    • 3,185.5 km in 2022–23
    • 2,244 km in 2023–24
    • 2,900+ km in 2024–25
  • This is helping, but far more expansion is needed given HDN congestion levels.
• Role of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs)
  • The Eastern DFC (fully operational) and Western DFC (96.4% complete) are expected to divert freight traffic away from HDN, freeing capacity for passenger trains.
  • This is one of the most impactful steps in reducing HDN load.

Context:

• India has missed the decennial Census for the first time in 143 years.
• With the last Census conducted in 2011, the next round — now termed Census 2027 — marks a 16–17-year gap.
• This has raised pressing concerns for governance, welfare delivery, federalism, representation, and democratic accountability. 

The Constitutional Significance of Census 2027:

• Why the delay matters?:
  • The 2021 Census was cancelled despite elections being held during the pandemic.
  • India has been functioning using outdated 2011 population data, affecting welfare schemes, urban planning, fiscal federalism (Finance Commission transfers), and budgeting and policy design.
• Renaming to "Census 2027" (rather a delayed Census 2021):
  • It enables the first Lok Sabha delimitation since 1976, frozen by the 84th Constitutional Amendment until “the first Census after 2026”.
  • It will also trigger women’s reservation (dependent on delimitation) — though the government’s 2029 promise is mathematically impossible given delimitation’s four-to-six-year track record.

Census 2027 - India’s First Digital Census:

• Advantages: Tablet-based enumeration will result in faster enumeration and fewer errors. It enables real-time monitoring and quicker publication.
• Concerns:
  • Potential linkage with Aadhaar, national population register (NPR), and voter rolls risks of surveillance, privacy violations, and citizen profiling.
  • Need for strict legal safeguards ensuring data use only for statistical purposes, no law-enforcement or citizenship verification usage, independent data-protection audits.

The Debate on Caste Enumeration:

• Historical background:
  • 1931: Caste was last comprehensively counted under the colonial administration. Independent India: Counting of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservation - rationale was nation-building.
  • 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC): It attempted to count all castes, but its findings remain unreleased — officially due to data quality concerns, unofficially due to political sensitivities.
• Why caste data matters?:
  • Informs debates on OBC reservations, social justice policies, and resource allocation.
  • Provides evidence for marginalised groups.
  • Not collecting caste data leads to policy dependent on political assertions, not demographic facts.
• Government ambiguity: No clarity on whether Census 2027 will enumerate caste. Indecision threatens accuracy, legitimacy, and transparency.

Migration - India’s Biggest Statistical Blind Spot:

• Current distortion:
  • Migrant workers counted in home states, not where they work.
  • They remain registered as voters in ancestral villages, not cities where they live.
• Consequences:
  • Urban governance becomes unaccountable to migrant populations.
  • Rural areas receive allocations for people who no longer reside there.
  • Millions become non-participatory economic contributors.
• Legal provisions:
  • Electoral law requires registration where a person is “normally resident” for more than six months.
  • Requires inter-state coordination and updated electoral rolls.

Ensuring Transparency and Federal Trust:

• Key requirements:
  • Real-time access to enumeration data for states.
  • Public dashboards tracking district-level progress.
  • Independent audits before publication.
  • The 2011 SECC experience — caste data unreleased for over a decade — must not be repeated.
• Purpose: Census must be seen as an instrument of fairness, not control. Federal trust depends on transparency and procedural integrity.

Challenges and Way Forward:

• Over 16 year data vacuum: Affect welfare, planning, and fiscal transfers. Comprehensive enumeration including caste with scientific methodology.
• Migration miscount: This will distort electoral representation and urban governance. Therefore, accurate counting of migrants based on actual residency is needed.
• Privacy and surveillance risks from digital data: Robust data-protection framework—legal firewalls preventing linkage with Aadhaar/NPR.
• Potential politicisation of enumeration and data release: Federal transparency through real-time data access and independent audits. Timely publication of all data collected to avoid SECC-like opacity.
• Ambiguity on caste enumeration and risk of delimitation delays: Affecting welfare policies, women’s reservation and federal representation. Clear communication on delimitation timelines, women’s reservation, and scope of the digital Census.

Conclusion:

• Census 2027 is more than a demographic exercise — it is a constitutional, political, and moral moment for the Republic.
• After a 17-year gap, India must ensure a comprehensive, transparent, accurate, and protected census.
• A democracy that stops counting its people risks ignoring them; a democracy that counts with fairness and foresight governs with justice.

Why in the News?

• The Union Finance Minister recently introduced the Health Security Se National Security Cess Bill, 2025 in Parliament, clarifying that the proposed cess will apply only to demerit goods such as pan masala and will not affect essential commodities.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Health & National Security Cess (Overview, Key Features, Objectives, Concerns & Criticism, Govt’s Response)

Health and National Security Cess

• The proposed cess marks a new fiscal instrument designed to raise dedicated funds for two domains the government considers critical, health and national security.
• It will be levied exclusively on demerit goods, especially those associated with high public health risks, such as pan masala.
• According to the Finance Minister, these goods impose substantial health burdens on society, and the cess serves a dual purpose: discouraging consumption and generating revenue for public welfare.
• The government has emphasised that no essential household goods will attract this cess, ensuring no inflationary impact on everyday consumption.

Key Features of the Proposed Cess

• Cess Applicable Only on Demerit Goods
  • The cess will apply on specified goods linked to significant health risks, such as pan masala, which has long been under scrutiny due to its public health impacts.
  • The government clarified that the cess is not consumption-based; rather, it will be imposed on a capacity-based, machine-linked system in manufacturing units.
  • Each factory’s liability will depend on its installed machinery and production processes.
  • This structure aims to reduce tax evasion and bring transparency to sectors historically difficult to regulate.
• Revenue Sharing with States
  • A notable aspect is that a portion of revenue collected will be shared with states, specifically for health awareness initiatives and health-related schemes.
  • This is an important deviation from traditional cesses, which are generally not shareable with states, a point that has drawn federalism-related criticism in the past.
  • By explicitly providing for shared revenue, the Centre aims to strengthen cooperative fiscal federalism.
• No Adverse Impact on GST System
  • The Minister clarified that the cess will not interfere with GST revenue sharing or GST Council mechanisms. For example:

• Pan masala currently attracts 28% GST + compensation cess.
• The proposed cess is independent of GST and relates instead to production capacity.
• It ensures no disruption of the GST compensation framework.

Objectives Behind the Cess

• Dedicated Resource for National Priorities
  • The Bill’s stated purpose is to augment resources for national security and public health expenditure, two high-priority domains with rising fiscal demands.
  • The government argued that linking revenue collection directly to demerit goods enhances both accountability and predictability in funding.
• Deterrence Through Targeted Taxation
  • By taxing goods associated with lifestyle health risks, the cess intends to act as a disincentive, similar to the rationale behind “sin taxes” in public finance.
  • The Minister noted that the cess is intended to impose a social cost on harmful products to reduce their usage over time.

Concerns and Criticisms Raised in Parliament

• Burden on MSMEs
  • Opposition members argued that capacity-based taxation could hurt small manufacturing units, especially MSMEs, which may struggle with compliance and cost burdens.
  • They claimed the system may disproportionately affect smaller players who lack the capital to upgrade machinery or navigate bureaucratic procedures.
• Fear of ‘Inspector Raj’
  • Concerns were raised that capacity-based cesses could lead to increased inspection and regulatory oversight, potentially reviving the spectre of “inspector raj.”
  • Members feared this could open the door to harassment, rent-seeking, and operational disruptions in smaller factories.
• Debate over Alternative Approaches
  • Some MPs argued that if the intent is to curb harmful consumption, outright bans, as seen in Bihar for pan masala, would be a more effective strategy.
  • Others criticised the government for relying increasingly on cesses, calling it “cessification of governance.”

Government’s Defence and Rationale

• The Treasury benches strongly defended the Bill, highlighting:

• Transparency in revenue utilisation, claiming that this is the first legislation explicitly committing to tracing the use of every rupee collected from demerit goods.
• National interest, asserting that funding for health and security should receive unanimous support.
• Reduction in tax evasion, especially in the pan masala sector, due to machine-linked assessment.

Context

• India’s evolving strategy for critical minerals reflects a recognition that value lies not in extraction but in transforming ores into high-purity materials essential for clean energy and advanced manufacturing.
• The Union Cabinet’s new ₹7,280-crore rare-earth magnet scheme and the G-20 framework on critical minerals indicate a strategic shift toward midstream value creation.
• This shift is urgent, as the resilience of future industries depends on control over refining capacity rather than simply on mineral reserves.

The Global Context: A Chokepoint in the Midstream

• Critical mineral supply chains have become instruments of geopolitical influence.
• China dominates over 90% of rare-earth and graphite refining and most lithium and cobalt processing, creating a global bottleneck.
• Temporary export controls in 2025 showed how easily these supply chains can be disrupted. India’s dependence on imported refined materials, despite domestic mining reforms, therefore represents a significant vulnerability.
• India imports nearly all its lithium, nickel, and cobalt, even though these materials underpin renewable energy systems, semiconductors, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and defence manufacturing.
• Without domestic refining capacity, India remains exposed to geopolitical shocks and global price distortions.

India’s Processing Gap: A Structural Weakness

• India already mines and processes several critical minerals, copper, graphite, silicon, tin, titanium, rare earths, and zirconium, but refining capacity lags in both quality and scale.
• Battery-grade graphite requires 99.95% purity, far above current domestic levels.
• Rare earths are processed into oxides but not separated into the metals needed for magnets, and tin production meets only a fraction of domestic demand.
• This gap traps India in low-value roles: exporting raw materials while importing high-value components.
• Such dependence threatens the broader economy and undermines aspirations for technological self-reliance.

Five Strategic Interventions for Building Refining Capacity

• Transform Centres of Excellence into Engines of Applied Innovation
  • The nine Centres of Excellence under the National Critical Mineral Mission must prioritise commercially deployable processing technologies with clear metrics for purity, recovery, cost, and waste.
  • Collaboration among IITs, NITs, industry, and research institutions is essential to accelerate the transition from laboratory innovation to industrial deployment.
• Mobilise Secondary Resources as Domestic Mineral Sources
  • India generates massive quantities of industrial waste, coal fly ash, red mud, zinc residues, and steel slag, that contain recoverable critical minerals.
  • Pilot studies show recovery is viable, but scaling requires incentives, streamlined environmental clearances, and integration with proposed Critical Minerals Processing Parks.
  • Leveraging secondary resources can significantly reduce import dependence while lowering environmental impact.
• Build a Skilled Workforce in Advanced Refining Technologies
  • Most of India’s metallurgical workforce is trained for bulk metals, not for hydrometallurgy and advanced chemical refining, which critical minerals require.
  • A dedicated skilling programme must introduce new curricula, fund train-the-trainer modules, and expand apprenticeships with established refiners.
  • This can create thousands of specialised jobs in mineral-rich states such as Odisha, Gujarat, and Jharkhand.
• De-risk Investments Through Market-Shaping Tools
  • Global critical mineral prices are often kept artificially low, discouraging new entrants.
  • India’s planned mineral stockpile could become an active market stabiliser, offering offtake guarantees and price assurance during downturns.
  • Key sectors, defence, pharmaceuticals, electronics, should commit to partial domestic sourcing, ensuring steady demand and investor confidence.
  • Refiners must meet strict quality and reliability standards to build trust across supply chains.
• Leverage Mineral Diplomacy to Build Processing Partnerships
  • India’s overseas acquisitions in Argentina and Zambia must be complemented by strong domestic refining.
  • Processing strength converts resource access into strategic leverage, enabling co-investment agreements rather than raw-ore transactions.
  • Partnerships such as the Australia-Canada-India Technology and Innovation framework demonstrate how trilateral cooperation can advance processing technologies.
  • Multilateral forums, from BRICS to the G-20, should integrate critical mineral processing into trade and investment dialogues.

Strategic Implications: Refining as the Foundation of Autonomy

• In critical mineral supply chains, processing determines power. Mines represent potential, but refineries create strategic capability.
• Investing in midstream capacity reduces import dependence, anchors high-value industries, generates skilled employment, and enhances geopolitical resilience.
• The key question is no longer whether India has sufficient mineral reserves but whether it can refine those minerals into high-purity materials that feed the industries of the future.

Conclusion

• India’s most pressing mineral challenge lies not in extraction but in developing the refining infrastructure essential for technological and strategic autonomy.
• By combining innovation, recycling, workforce development, investment support, and international collaboration, India can transition from a supplier of raw materials to a producer of high-value, strategically indispensable materials.
• True autonomy in the clean-energy era will be defined not by what nations mine but by what they can refine.

Context

• Every year on December 5, World Soil Day invites the global community to pause and reflect on one of the most fundamental yet overlooked elements of human existence: soil.
• Far from being inert dirt, soil is a living resource that sustains ecosystems, food systems, and ultimately civilisation itself.
• The 2025 theme, Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities, marks a deliberate shift in focus from rural landscapes to the urban world.
• In doing so, it underscores a powerful but often neglected reality: even in the heart of the world’s busiest cities, soil remains a dynamic ally in shaping a resilient and sustainable future.

Urban Soil: The Hidden Engine of City Resilience

• As the global population becomes increasingly urban, now exceeding 56%, cities face mounting challenges.
• Food insecurity, climate-induced heat, pollution, and flooding threaten the health and safety of millions.
• Beneath these problems, however, lies a crucial yet frequently invisible solution: urban soil.
• Urban soil rarely commands attention, as it is overshadowed by concrete skylines and technological innovation. Yet it performs vital ecosystem functions.
• Healthy soil acts simultaneously as a living filter, a natural sponge, and a powerful carbon sink.
• Its biological richness, a teaspoon of soil holds more organisms than the Earth has people, enables it to perform roles that are indispensable to urban well-being.

Significant Roles of Healthy Urban Soil

• Mitigating Climate Change
  • One of the roles is mitigating climate change and extreme heat, especially in urban heat islands, where temperatures soar several degrees above surrounding rural areas.
  • Soils covered with vegetation absorb heat, store carbon, and moderate microclimates, functioning like natural air conditioners.
• Water Management
  • Urban soil also plays a central role in water management. As cities expand, impermeable concrete surfaces worsen flood risk, preventing water from infiltrating the ground.
  • Healthy soil behaves differently: it absorbs rainfall, filters runoff, and replenishes groundwater, forming the front line of defence against climate-intensified storms.
• Local Food Production and Human Well-Being
  • Furthermore, as urban agriculture grows, whether on rooftops, in community gardens, or through backyard plots, fertile soil becomes a cornerstone of local food production, reducing supply chain vulnerabilities.
  • These soil-based habitats also support biodiversity, from microbes and earthworms to essential pollinators.
  • Finally, soil-dependent green spaces nourish not only ecosystems but also human well-being.
  • Access to nature, often called Vitamin N, reduces stress, enhances mental health, and encourages physical activity, linking soil health directly with the quality of urban life.

The Threat to Urban Soil

• Despite its value, urban soil is among the most degraded natural resources.
• The FAO reports that nearly one-third of global soils are already compromised, a condition amplified in urban environments.
• Industrial contamination, compaction from construction, loss of organic matter, and extensive soil sealing by asphalt and concrete suffocate soil ecosystems.
• These pressures undermine plant growth, weaken urban food systems, and diminish the natural services cities depend upon.
• Thus, the 2025 World Soil Day theme represents not only a celebration but also an urgent call to action.

Towards Healthier Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Soil Stewardship

• The Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities campaign offers a roadmap for transforming urban landscapes and empowering communities to value and protect the soil beneath their feet.
• First, urban soil restoration and protection are essential. This includes rehabilitating degraded areas through compost, organic amendments, and regular soil testing.
• Equally important is limiting further soil sealing during construction, preserving soil’s capacity to breathe and function.
• Second, cities must promote green infrastructure that integrates soil as a core element.
• Replacing unnecessary concrete with rain gardens, parks, tree belts, and other soil-based systems cools cities, enriches biodiversity, and strengthens climate resilience.
• Third, urban agriculture should be championed for its environmental, social, and nutritional benefits.
• From balcony containers to community allotments, growing food reconnects residents with the natural world and enhances soil health.
• Fourth, residents and planners alike must adopt responsible soil management practices, including reducing chemical inputs, planting native species, and protecting topsoil through mulching.
• Finally, strengthening soil literacy is vital. Schools, community groups, and households can all contribute by learning about soil ecosystems, conducting soil tests, and practicing composting, turning organic waste into nourishment for urban soil.

Conclusion

• On this World Soil Day, the message is unmistakable: the strength of a city rests not only in its architecture but also in the living soil that lies beneath it.
• Healthy soils form the foundation of healthy cities, shaping climate resilience, food security, biodiversity, and public well-being.
• As urban populations continue to rise, caring for soil becomes not just an environmental responsibility but a social imperative.
• By nurturing the ground beneath our feet, we safeguard our health, our cities, and our shared future.

About Solar Flare:

• It is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.
• A flare appears as a sudden, intense brightening of a region on the Sun, lasting several minutes to hours.
• Flares occur when intense magnetic fields on the Sun become too tangled.
  • Like a rubber band that snaps when it is twisted too far, the tangled magnetic fields release energy when they snap.
• The energy emitted by a solar flare is more than a million times greater than the energy from a volcanic eruption on Earth.
• Although solar flares can be visible in white light, they are often more readily noticed via their bright X-ray and ultraviolet emissions.
• Coronal mass ejections often accompany solar flares, though scientists are still trying to determine exactly how the two phenomena are related.
• Effect of Solar Flare on Earth:
  • The intense radiation emitted during a solar flare can affect satellite communications, disrupt radio signals, and even pose a risk to astronauts in space.
  • Additionally, the increased solar radiation can lead to geomagnetic storms, which may impact power grids and cause auroras (northern and southern lights) at lower latitudes.

What are Sunspots?

• Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun.
• They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun’s surface.
• Why are sunspots relatively cool?
  • It’s because they form in areas where magnetic fields are particularly strong.
  • These magnetic fields are so strong that they keep some of the heat within the Sun from reaching the surface.

About Ebola:

• It is a severe and often deadly disease caused by a group of viruses known as orthoebolaviruses (formally ebolavirus).
• Orthoebolaviruses were discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are found primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
• It is known as a hemorrhagic fever virus because it can cause problems with the clotting system of the body and lead to internal bleeding as blood leaks from small blood vessels.
• It gets its name from the Ebola River, which is near one of the villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the disease first appeared.
• Ebola can occur in humans and other primates (gorillas, monkeys, and chimpanzees).
• Transmission:
  • The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines, and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected people and with surfaces and materials (e.g., bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
  • Ebola cannot be transmitted by air.
• Symptoms:
  • It includes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, bleeding, and often, death.
• Treatment:
  • There is no known cure for Ebola. Experimental treatments have been used, but none have been fully tested to see if they work well and are safe.
  • For example, there are two FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatments for the Ebola Zaire strain (Inmazeb and Ebanga).
  • Current therapy consists of maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance and the administration of blood and plasma to control bleeding.

About Dudhwa Tiger Reserve:

• It is located on the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh.
• It includes the Dudhwa National Park and two nearby sanctuaries, viz. Kishanpur and Katerniaghat, besides forest areas of North Kheri, South Kheri, and Shahjahanpur forest divisions in its buffer.
• Topography: It is a typical Tarai-Bhabar habitat of the upper Gangetic plains biogeographic province.
• Rivers: The Sharda River flows by the Kishanpur WL Sanctuary, the Geruwa River flows through the Katerniaghat WL Sanctuary, and the Suheli and Mohana streams flow in the Dudhwa National Park, all of which are tributaries of the mighty Ghagra River.
• Vegetation: The vegetation is of the Moist Deciduous type, with sal forests.
• Fauna:
  • The main mammals spotted here are Tiger, leopard, Swamp deer, Rhinoceros, chital, hog deer, barking deer, Sambhar, wild boar, and Ratel.
  • It hosts various species of birds like: Florican and black-necked storks.

Key Facts about Rainbow Water Snake:

• It is a slightly venomous, fish-eating water snake.
• Scientific Name: Enhydris enhydris
• It mainly inhabits freshwater habitats.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Least Concern.

About Caller Name Presentation (CNAP):

• CNAP is a technology that enables mobile users to see an incoming caller’s name.
• The system retrieves the caller’s name from a telecom operator’s database and displays it on the recipient’s phone.
• Unlike third-party apps, CNAP will rely on the official Customer Application Form (CAF) details provided during SIM registration.

_{How Will CNAP Work?}

• Each telecom provider will maintain a database of subscriber names linked to mobile numbers.
• When a call is made, the system will fetch the caller’s registered name and display it on the recipient’s screen.
• Initially, CNAP will work only within the same network, meaning an Airtel-to-Airtel call will display the caller’s name, but cross-operator name display, such as Jio-to-Vodafone, will require regulatory approval for data sharing between telecom providers.

• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended the adoption of CNAP for all smartphones, urging telecom operators to introduce the feature.
  • The aim is to reduce customer harassment from unknown or spam callers.