GS-1 

1. Mount Anak Krakatau & Ring of Fire

· News: A series of powerful eruptions at Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau from late 4 September 2026 sent ash columns up to about 15 km high. Ashfall covered Jakarta and parts of West Java/Banten; eight airports, including Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta, were shut and more than 2.7 lakh passengers were affected. The volcano remains at Alert Level III (second-highest on Indonesia’s four-level scale).

· What is Mount Anak Krakatau?

o An active volcanic island in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra (the strait links the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean); administratively in South Lampung Regency, Lampung province.

o “Anak Krakatau” = “Child of Krakatau” in Indonesian. It emerged from the sea in 1927 inside the submarine caldera left by the 1883 eruption of Krakatau.

o The 1883 eruption (VEI 6) destroyed about two-thirds of Krakatau island; its tsunamis killed ~36,000 people; the explosion was heard ~4,800 km away (among the loudest sounds in recorded history) and its aerosols cooled global temperatures and caused vivid sunsets worldwide.

o In December 2018, a flank collapse of Anak Krakatau triggered a deadly tsunami (over 400 deaths) and sharply reduced the volcano’s height.

o The Global Volcanism Program classifies Krakatau as a caldera with a young pyroclastic cone; built mainly of basaltic-andesite lava and fragmental (pyroclastic) material. It is a classic Somma-type structure — a new cone growing inside an older collapsed caldera rim.

o Lies within the Krakatau Islands Nature Reserve, part of Ujung Kulon National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991) and last refuge of the Javan rhinoceros.

o Tectonic setting: part of the Sunda volcanic arc, where the oceanic Indo-Australian Plate subducts beneath the Sunda Plate (part of the Eurasian Plate) along the Sunda (Java) Trench. Indonesia has about 130 active volcanoes and is commonly grouped with the Pacific Ring of Fire.

· Key Volcano Terms

o Concept → Caldera — a large, bowl-shaped depression formed when a volcano collapses inward after its underground magma chamber empties during a major eruption (e.g., Krakatau, Toba).

o Concept → Pyroclastic (cinder/scoria) cone — a steep conical hill built around a vent from loose ejected fragments (ash, cinders, bombs).

o Concept → Stratovolcano (composite volcano) — a steep, tall cone of alternating lava and pyroclastic layers; viscous, gas-rich magma makes it explosive; typical of subduction zones (e.g., Fuji, Mayon).

o Concept → Somma volcano — a caldera partly filled by a newer central cone; named after Mount Somma, the old rim around Vesuvius.

o Concept → Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) — a 0–8 logarithmic scale of eruption size based on erupted volume and plume height.

· Pacific Ring of Fire

o Also called the Circum-Pacific Belt; a horseshoe-shaped zone of about 40,000 km around the Pacific Ocean.

o The most seismically and volcanically active region on Earth — about 75% of the world’s active volcanoes and ~90% of earthquakes.

o Formation: mainly convergent plate boundaries, where denser oceanic plates subduct beneath lighter continental plates (or other oceanic plates); some transform boundaries too (e.g., San Andreas Fault).

o Oceanic plates involved: Pacific (main), Nazca, Cocos, Philippine Sea, Juan de Fuca.

o Major plates bordering it: North American, South American, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, Antarctic.

o Important volcanoes: Mount Fuji (Japan); Mayon and Pinatubo (Philippines); Krakatau and Merapi (Indonesia); Mount St. Helens and Mount Shasta (USA); Popocatépetl (Mexico); Cotopaxi (Ecuador); Ruapehu and Taranaki (New Zealand).

· Mariana Trench

o The deepest oceanic trench on Earth; its Challenger Deep (~11 km deep) is the deepest known point on the seabed.

o Located in the western Pacific Ocean, east of the Mariana Islands; formed where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Mariana (Philippine Sea) Plate; part of the Ring of Fire. 

2. Chagos Islands

· News: Recently, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu wrote to British Prime Minister Andy (Andrew) Burnham, inviting him to talks and seeking reopening of discussions on sovereignty over the Chagos Islands. The Maldives objects to the UK’s plan to hand the archipelago to Mauritius and says it was not consulted when the deal was agreed under Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer. The UK Foreign Office maintains that sovereignty is a matter for the UK and Mauritius.

· About the Chagos Islands

o A group of about 60 islands in 7 atolls in the central Indian Ocean, roughly 1,600 km (1,000 miles) south of the southern tip of India; about 500 km south of the Maldives (Mauritius is over 2,000 km away).

o Southernmost part of the submarine Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, which also carries Lakshadweep and the Maldives.

o Low-lying coral atolls; the islands have no rivers or lakes.

o Diego Garcia is the largest and southernmost island; it hosts a strategic joint UK–US military base.

o Administered by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), created on 8 November 1965 by detaching Chagos from the then-colony of Mauritius (before Mauritian independence in 1968). The native Chagossians were forcibly removed in the late 1960s–early 1970s to make way for the base.

· Sovereignty Dispute — Timeline

o 2019: ICJ Advisory Opinion (25 Feb) — the separation of Chagos was unlawful; the UK should end its administration “as rapidly as possible”. UNGA Resolution 73/295 (May 2019) endorsed this; India voted in favour.

o 2023: A Special Chamber of ITLOS delimited the maritime boundary between the Maldives and Mauritius in the Chagos region.

o Oct 2024: UK and Mauritius reached a political agreement; 22 May 2025: treaty signed — Mauritius to be sovereign over the entire archipelago including Diego Garcia, while the UK retains the right to operate the Diego Garcia base for an initial 99 years (with annual payments to Mauritius). India welcomed the treaty.

o 2026: The UK’s implementing bill lapsed when Parliament was prorogued (April 2026) and the US withdrew its support; the treaty is not yet in force. The Burnham government has indicated it intends to proceed, while the Maldives asserts its own claim, citing historical ties and proximity.

o India’s position: consistently supports Mauritius’ sovereignty over Chagos, on the principle of decolonisation and territorial integrity. 

GS-3 

1. Orangutans

· News: Recently, the Odisha Forest Department rescued five juvenile orangutans from a casuarina plantation near Badapai village, Jaleswar Range, Balasore (Baleswar) district. The animals were shifted to Nandankanan Zoological Park, Bhubaneswar, and the State asked the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to probe.

· About Orangutans

o Asia’s only great apes — all other great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos) are African. Great apes belong to family Hominidae (which also includes humans).

o Name from Malay/Indonesian orang (person) + hutan (forest) = “person/man of the forest”.

o Genus Pongo. Found only in the tropical rainforests of Borneo (shared by Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Malaysia’s Sabah & Sarawak) and Sumatra (Indonesia). Not native to India.

· Species of Orangutans

Species

Distribution

Key fact

IUCN

Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus)

Borneo (Indonesia & Malaysia)

Most numerous species

Critically Endangered

Sumatran (Pongo abelii)

Northern Sumatra

Restricted to the north of the island

Critically Endangered

Tapanuli (Pongo tapanuliensis)

Batang Toru forest, North Sumatra

Described in 2017; rarest great ape (< ~800 individuals)

Critically Endangered

· Key Features

o Largest arboreal (tree-dwelling) mammals; spend most of their lives in the forest canopy. Very long arms (arm span can exceed 2 m in males).

o Larger than chimpanzees but less heavily built than gorillas; adult males are roughly twice the size of females.

o Coarse, shaggy reddish-brown/orange hair over dark skin.

o Sexual bimaturism — a distinctive form of sexual dimorphism in which adult males exist in two forms: flanged males (large cheek pads called flanges, throat sac, loud “long calls”) and unflanged males (smaller, female-like), which may stay so for years before developing flanges.

· Behaviour & Life History

o Most solitary of the great apes; the mother–infant bond is the core social unit.

o Build a fresh sleeping nest of branches in trees almost every night.

o Highly intelligent: tool use, problem-solving and social learning (local “cultures” of behaviour).

o Slowest reproducers among mammals — a female gives birth only about once every 7–9 years (among the longest inter-birth intervals of any mammal), so populations recover very slowly.

o Lifespan about 35–45 years in the wild; can exceed 50 years in captivity.

· Diet & Ecological Role

o Primarily frugivorous (fruit-eating) — figs, durian, lychee, mangosteen, jackfruit; also leaves, bark, insects, honey and bird eggs. Obtain water from tree holes and leaves.

o Important seed dispersers (“gardeners of the forest”) — an umbrella species for Southeast Asian rainforests.

· Threats

o Deforestation for oil-palm and pulpwood plantations, forest fires, hunting, and the illegal pet trade (infants are usually captured after their mothers are killed).

· Conservation Status

o IUCN: all three species — Critically Endangered.

o CITES: all three in Appendix I (international commercial trade prohibited).

· India (legal angle): after the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022, specimens of species listed in the CITES Appendices are covered under Schedule IV of the WPA, 1972; possession of such live exotic animals must be reported/registered (Section 49M).  

2. Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs)

· News: Recently PM Narendra Modi dedicated the final three sections of the Western DFC — New Sanand (North)–New Makarpura, New Umbergaon–New Saphale and New Saphale–New JNPT (about 326 route-km, cost over ₹20,700 crore). This completes the 1,506-km WDFC and makes the entire 2,843-km DFC network (EDFC + WDFC) operational. The Government describes India as the only country with a fully electrified dedicated freight corridor network.

· Background: Why DFCs were needed

o Indian Railways’ “Golden Quadrilateral” (linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Howrah) and its two diagonals (Delhi–Chennai, Mumbai–Howrah) form a small part of the network but carry more than half of IR’s freight traffic.

o The Delhi–Howrah and Delhi–Mumbai trunk routes were saturated, with line-capacity utilisation of 115–150%.

o Dedicated Freight Corridors are freight-only railway lines, separated from passenger traffic, allowing higher speeds (up to 100 km/h), heavier axle loads (25 t; track designed for up to 32.5 t), longer and heavier trains and double-stack containers — while freeing capacity on existing lines for passenger trains.

· Implementing Agency & Timeline

o Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) — a Special Purpose Vehicle / PSU under the Ministry of Railways, incorporated on 30 October 2006.

o Early years went into approvals and land acquisition; the bulk of construction, track-laying, electrification and commissioning happened during 2014–2026.

· Financing

o World Bank loan ≈ ₹14,900 crore — for the Eastern DFC (Ludhiana–DDU stretch).

o Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) loan ≈ ₹38,722 crore (¥550 billion) — for the Western DFC.

o DDU–Sonnagar section funded by Indian Railways; the balance through Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) / equity. Revised total cost ≈ ₹1.24 lakh crore.

· Green Dividend

o Both corridors are fully electrified; an official Indian Railways assessment estimates the two DFCs could save about 457 million tonnes of CO₂ over 30 years, reducing dependence on diesel and road haulage.

· WDFC vs EDFC at a Glance

Feature

Western DFC (WDFC)

Eastern DFC (EDFC)

Length

1,506 km

1,337 km

Route

Dadri (UP) ↔ JNPT, Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra)

Sahnewal (Ludhiana, Punjab) ↔ Sonnagar (Bihar)

States (count)

5: Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra

4: Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

Main funder

JICA (Japan)

World Bank

Track

Electrified double line; high-rise overhead wiring for double-stack container trains

401 km single line (Sahnewal Khurja) + 936 km double line (Khurja–Sonnagar, incl. 46-km Khurja–Dadri link); all electrified

Main traffic

EXIM containers, fertilisers, food grains, salt, coal, iron & steel, cement

Coal (dominant), steel, cement, food grains, fertilisers

Completion

Trial runs on final JNPT–New Saphale stretch 31 Mar 2026; final sections dedicated 8 Sep 2026

Fully commissioned October 2023

Linked industrial corridor

Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)

Amritsar–Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)

·  Western DFC — Traffic Details

o ISO containers from JNPT and Mumbai Port (Maharashtra) and Mundra, Pipavav and Kandla (Deendayal) ports (Gujarat).

o Destined for Inland Container Depots (ICDs) at Tughlakabad (Delhi), Dadri (UP), Dhandari Kalan (Ludhiana, Punjab) and Khatuwas (Rajasthan).

· Significance of WDFC

o Dadri is a major inland logistics hub and the junction of the two corridors (EDFC reaches it via the Khurja–Dadri link).

o Provides a direct, high-capacity rail link between the northern industrial belt and the west-coast ports — reducing the disadvantage of landlocked manufacturing clusters.

o Improves speed, reliability and predictability of cargo movement — crucial for global supply chains; lowers logistics costs and strengthens manufacturing competitiveness and exports; decongests Mumbai’s suburban rail network.

· Significance of EDFC

o Backbone of India’s mineral and energy economy — moves coal and bulk commodities from eastern/central India to power plants and industrial centres in the north.

o Heavy-haul operations without passenger-train delays reduce transport costs for coal and raw materials, improving the competitiveness of power, steel, cement and construction sectors.

o The original EDFC plan ran to Dankuni (West Bengal); the 538-km Sonnagar–Dankuni stretch was de-scoped from the DFC project (capacity there is being added separately by Indian Railways). Hence the operational EDFC does not pass through Jharkhand or West Bengal.

· Proposed: Dankuni–Surat DFC (East–West Corridor)

o Announced in the Union Budget 2026–27; roughly 2,050–2,100 km from Dankuni (West Bengal) to Surat (Gujarat); DFCCIL is updating the DPR.

o Will create an East–West freight axis, complementing the existing North–South/North–West corridors. Reported states include West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Gujarat (some reports also list Madhya Pradesh — final alignment awaited).

o Earlier proposals (Budget 2021–22): East Coast DFC (Kharagpur–Vijayawada), East–West DFC (Bhusawal–Kharagpur–Dankuni) and North–South DFC (Itarsi–Vijayawada).

· Why Freight Matters for Indian Railways

o Freight contributes about two-thirds (>65%) of Indian Railways’ earnings and cross-subsidises passenger fares.

o Rail’s share in freight movement: about 27% at present; National Rail Plan 2030 target: 45% (“Mission 3000 MT” — ~3,000 million tonnes by 2030).

o Record freight loading: 1,670 million tonnes in 2025–26 (+3.25% over 2024–25); coal alone ≈ 49% (818.6 MT).

o As of 31 August 2026, the DFCs had handled about 5.21 lakh freight train trips (~435 trains/day).  

3. TRISHNA & PSLV

· News: France’s space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) said it remains confident in ISRO despite two back-to-back PSLV failures. The Indo-French TRISHNA satellite is slated to be launched on a PSLV in 2027 (targeted October 2027).

o PSLV-C61 (18 May 2025) carrying EOS-09 failed due to an anomaly in the third stage (PS3) — a drop in motor chamber pressure.

o PSLV-C62 (12 January 2026) carrying EOS-N1 and 15 co-passenger satellites (16 in all) failed after a disturbance in roll rates near the end of the third stage.

· About the TRISHNA Mission

o TRISHNA — Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment — a joint mission of ISRO and CNES, built on ISRO’s IMS-1K satellite bus.

o Third major India–France Earth-observation satellite after Megha-Tropiques (2011) and SARAL (2013).

o Designed to provide high spatial and temporal resolution monitoring of Earth’s land surface temperature, emissivity, biophysical and radiation variables, supporting surface energy and water budget estimation from regional to global scales.

· Objectives

o Detailed monitoring of the energy and water budgets of the continental biosphere — to assess terrestrial water stress, evapotranspiration and water use (useful for irrigation and agriculture).

o Concept → Continental biosphere — the living systems of Earth’s land surface (vegetation, soils, croplands, forests and their organisms), as distinct from the marine biosphere.

o High-resolution observation of water quality and dynamics in coastal and inland water bodies.

o Assessment of urban heat islands and detection of thermal anomalies from volcanic activity and geothermal resources.

o Monitoring snow-melt runoff and glacier dynamics.

o Information on aerosol optical depth, atmospheric water vapour and cloud cover.

o Concept → Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) — a dimensionless measure of how much airborne particles (dust, smoke, pollution) block or scatter sunlight in a vertical column of the atmosphere; higher AOD = hazier sky.

· Payloads

o Concept → Payload — the instruments/equipment a satellite carries to accomplish its mission (as distinct from the satellite bus that provides power, control and communication).

Payload

Provided by

Details

Thermal Infra-Red (TIR)

CNES (France)

4-channel long-wave infrared (8–12 µm) sensor → high-resolution surface temperature and emissivity maps

VSWIR (Visible–Near Infra-Red–Short-Wave Infra-Red)

ISRO (India)

7 spectral bands (5 VNIR + 2 SWIR) → surface reflectance, vegetation, snow, cloud, aerosol and water-vapour products

·  Orbit & Mission Life

o Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at about 761 km altitude; ~12:30 local-time equator crossing.

o Concept → Sun-synchronous orbit — a near-polar orbit whose plane shifts in step with Earth’s revolution around the Sun, so the satellite passes over any given place at the same local solar time every day — giving consistent lighting, ideal for Earth observation.

o Spatial resolution: 57 m over land and coastal regions; ~1 km over oceans and polar regions. Revisit about 3 times in an 8-day cycle at the equator.

o Planned operational life: 5 years.

· Significance

o Data will support global initiatives such as GEOGLAM (G20 Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring), the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Water Watch.

o Outputs will feed into Essential Agricultural Variables (EAVs) and Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) used by the global community.

· Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

o ISRO’s third-generation launch vehicle and the first Indian launch vehicle equipped with liquid stages; an indigenously developed, expendable four-stage rocket. First flight 1993 (failed); first successful flight October 1994.

o Known as the “Workhorse of ISRO” for its long record of reliable launches, especially to LEO and Sun-synchronous polar orbits; can carry multiple payloads in one mission.

o Capability: about 1,750 kg to a 600-km Sun-synchronous polar orbit and 1,425 kg to sub-GTO; also used for LEO and GTO missions.

o Variants by number of strap-on boosters: PSLV-CA (core alone, ~229 t lift-off mass), PSLV-DL (2), PSLV-QL (4), PSLV-XL (6 extended boosters, ~320 t); the original PSLV-G (~296 t) is retired.

o Landmark launches: Kalpana-1 (2002, meteorology), Chandrayaan-1 (2008), Mars Orbiter Mission (2013), AstroSat (2015, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory), 104 satellites in one launch (PSLV-C37, 2017 — a record then), Aditya-L1 (2023), XPoSat (2024); also NavIC navigation satellites.

· Four Stages of PSLV (Solid – Liquid – Solid – Liquid)

Stage

Propulsion

Key points

PS1

Solid (HTPB)

S139 solid motor, augmented by 6 solid strap-on boosters (XL/G variants); generates the high thrust for lift-off

PS2

Liquid (Earth-storable)

Vikas engine (UH25 fuel + N₂O₄ oxidiser); improves efficiency and overall performance

PS3

Solid (HTPB)

High thrust after the atmospheric phase — site of both the C61 and C62 failures

PS4

Liquid (Earth-storable)

Twin engines (MMH + MON-3); injects satellites into orbit; restartable

· PS4 restart capability: first demonstrated on PSLV-C29 (Dec 2015); used operationally on PSLV-C35 (Sep 2016) — ISRO’s first multi-orbit mission, placing 8 satellites in two different orbits. The spent PS4 has also been reused as an orbital experimental platform (POEM, PSLV-C53, 2022). 

4. Corals & Slumping

· News: Soft corals around the uninhabited islets south of Jeju Island (South Korea) — part of the UNESCO Jeju Island Biosphere Reserve — are again showing “slumping”. Jeju lies near the northern limit of coral distribution in the East China Sea; a large slumping event in 2024 killed soft corals around Beomseom islet.

· What are Corals?

o Marine invertebrate animals (no backbone) of phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa — relatives of jellyfish and sea anemones.

o An individual coral is a polyp; thousands of polyps form a colony.

o Colonies grow by budding (asexual) — a polyp grows copies of itself; corals also reproduce sexually through mass spawning.

· Corals live in symbiosis with microscopic single-celled algae called zooxanthellae (dinoflagellates) living inside their tissues:

o The algae photosynthesise and supply food (sugars) and oxygen — up to ~90% of the coral’s energy needs.

o In return, corals give the algae shelter, carbon dioxide and nutrients (from their wastes).

o Zooxanthellae are largely responsible for the vibrant colours of corals.

o Corals also capture plankton using stinging tentacles (nematocysts), mostly at night.

· Conditions for Coral Growth

o Warm water: mean temperature not below ~20°C (optimum ~23–29°C); mostly between 30°N and 30°S.

o Shallow, clear, sunlit water (usually less than ~50 m deep) — needed for zooxanthellae photosynthesis.

o Salinity of about 27–40 ppt; freshwater and sediment are harmful — so reefs are generally absent near large river mouths.

· Types of Corals: Hard vs Soft

Feature

Hard (stony) corals

Soft corals

Skeleton

Rigid calcium carbonate (aragonite) skeleton

No massive skeleton; tiny CaCO₃ spicules (sclerites) in tissue; sea fans/whips have a flexible protein (gorgonin) axis

Reef building

Reef-builders (hermatypic)

Generally non-reef-building

Support

Skeleton

Internal fluid (hydrostatic) pressure

Appearance

Brain, staghorn, table corals

Flexible, plant/tree-like: sea fans, sea whips, sea feathers, leather corals

Polyp tentacles

Usually in multiples of six

Eight feathery tentacles (octocorals)

Habit

Colonial; depend on zooxanthellae

Mostly colonial; many (not all) host zooxanthellae

o  Hard-coral skeletons accumulate over time into limestone rock, which forms the foundation of coral reefs and a surface on which young corals settle and grow.

· Reefs and Coral Reefs

o Reef: a ridge-like structure, natural or artificial, rising above the ocean floor.

o Coral reef: a reef built by the calcium carbonate skeletons of hard corals. Every coral reef is a reef, but not every reef is a coral reef.

o Types: fringing (attached to the shore), barrier (separated from the coast by a lagoon) and atoll (a ring of reef around a central lagoon; explained by Darwin’s subsidence theory).

o Great Barrier Reef (off Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea) is the world’s largest coral reef system.

o Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor but support about 25% of all marine species — the “rainforests of the sea”.

· Coral Bleaching

o When stressed, corals expel their zooxanthellae; their tissues become transparent, revealing the white skeleton. Bleached corals are not dead but are starving — prolonged stress leads to death.

· Causes:

o Warm water (the main cause — marine heatwaves, El Niño).

o Cold water: sudden temperature drops (e.g., Florida Keys, 2010) can also cause bleaching.

o Extreme sunlight and UV radiation, especially in shallow water.

o Pollution and runoff: chemicals, sediment and sudden freshwater influx after storms alter water chemistry.

o Extreme low tides expose shallow corals to air and sun.

o Global mass-bleaching events: 1998, 2010, 2014–17, and a fourth global event confirmed in April 2024 (NOAA & ICRI).

· Slumping Phenomenon

o Unlike hard corals, soft corals maintain their shape through internal fluid pressure.

o Environmental changes — heat stress, lowered salinity, poor water quality — disturb this balance: corals swell, droop, hang limp, deflate and finally disintegrate.

o Around Jeju, heavy rainfall, marine heatwaves and the freshwater plume of China’s Yangtze (Changjiang) River, which lowers salinity, are suspected triggers.

o The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world (after the Nile and Amazon); it enters the East China Sea near Shanghai.

· Other Threats to Corals

o Eutrophication — unnatural nutrient enrichment of water (sewage, fertiliser runoff) causing algal overgrowth and low oxygen; also linked to crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.

o Ocean acidification (weakens skeletons), destructive fishing, coral mining and unregulated tourism.

· Coral Reefs in India

o Reef-building corals, black corals, sea fans and related groups are listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (highest protection).

o Major reef areas: Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep (atolls); patchy reefs off Malvan (Maharashtra) and elsewhere along the west coast.

o Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park — India’s first marine national park; Gulf of Mannar — Marine National Park and Biosphere Reserve (1989).

· International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)

o An informal partnership of nations and organisations working to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems; founded in 1994. India is a member.