17 January 2026 Current Affairs for UPSC

Critical minerals are those an economy depends on but whose supply is risky — concentrated in a few countries, exposed to disruption or hard to substitute. For India they include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earths, which are essential for batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar equipment. The label reflects economic importance and supply risk, not geological scarcity.

KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd) is a state joint venture of NALCO, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Corporation, created to acquire and develop critical-mineral assets abroad. Its flagship effort is a lithium-exploration agreement in Catamarca, Argentina. KABIL aims to secure long-term supply and equity stakes in battery minerals, mirroring how India pursues overseas oil and gas assets.

Mining of these minerals is spread across many countries, but China dominates the midstream — the refining and processing of rare earths and battery metals. This concentration gives it choke-point leverage: export curbs or technology restrictions can disrupt manufacturing worldwide. Reducing this dependence is the central aim of India’s minerals diplomacy and domestic processing push.

The National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) is India’s full-value-chain strategy for critical minerals, covering exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, recycling and overseas acquisition. It works alongside amended MMDR Act provisions that let the Centre auction critical-mineral blocks. The mission aims to secure supply for the energy transition while building domestic capability rather than relying only on imports.

Exploration by the Geological Survey of India flagged a large inferred lithium resource at Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir — the first sizeable domestic find. However, an inferred resource is an early estimate, not a proven reserve; extraction faces technical, environmental and processing challenges. Domestic finds reduce import dependence over time but do not replace overseas sourcing in the near term.

Because India lacks large reserves of most battery minerals, it diversifies sources through diplomacy — joining the US-led Minerals Security Partnership, signing a critical-minerals pact with Australia and engaging Africa and Latin America. Spreading supply across friendly partners lowers dependence on any single country, turning resource security into an instrument of strategic autonomy and foreign policy.

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large, slow-moving marine mammal often called the sea cow. It is India’s only herbivorous marine mammal and the sole living member of the family Dugongidae. Belonging to the order Sirenia, it is related to the manatees and feeds almost entirely on seagrass in shallow, warm coastal waters.

In India, dugongs survive in only three regions: the Gulf of Mannar and adjoining Palk Bay off Tamil Nadu, the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat, and the waters of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The total Indian population is estimated at only around 200-250 animals, concentrated mainly in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay.

The dugong is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It is protected in India under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the highest level of legal protection. It is also listed on Appendix I of both CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species, and India is a signatory to the CMS Dugong Memorandum of Understanding.

The main threats are loss of seagrass meadows from pollution, siltation, dredging and trawling; accidental bycatch in gillnets, where dugongs drown after entanglement; and boat or vessel strikes in shallow coastal waters. Historic hunting and climate-driven seagrass degradation add further pressure on the slow-breeding, slow-recovering species.

It is India’s first dedicated dugong reserve, notified by Tamil Nadu in Palk Bay and covering about 448 sq km. A conservation reserve is a protected-area category under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, often involving local communities. The reserve protects the seagrass meadows the dugong depends on, complementing the neighbouring Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve.

Seagrass meadows are the dugong’s only food source and among the most valuable coastal ecosystems on Earth. As blue-carbon sinks, they store large amounts of carbon in seabed sediments, alongside mangroves and salt marshes. They also serve as fish nurseries, stabilise the seabed and protect coastlines, so saving dugongs helps protect coastal livelihoods and climate resilience.