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In India, two people convicted of the same offence can receive very different sentences depending on the judge. With the Law Commission examining a national sentencing policy at the Supreme Court’s prompting, legal experts propose a statutory Sentencing Council to issue guidelines and build a national sentencing database.

◈ Static Background — How Sentencing Works Today

Sentencing converts a statutory range (e.g. “up to ten years”) into a specific punishment — imprisonment, fine, probation or community service.
Wide discretion: laws fix maximums (and sometimes minimums) but give no structured list of aggravating or mitigating factors.
Hearing on sentence: Section 258(2), BNSS (old CrPC 235(2)) requires a Sessions Judge to hear the convict separately on sentence.
Alternatives to prison: Sections 401–402, BNSS (old CrPC 360–361) and the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (Sections 3, 4 and 6) require courts to consider admonition or probation in eligible cases.
Death penalty: Bachan Singh (1980) laid down the “rarest of rare” test; Manoj v State of MP (2022) required courts to collect mitigation material before imposing it.

Lineage — A Reform Long Recommended

1972 — Law Commission, 47th Report: flagged unguided sentencing discretion.
2003 — Malimath Committee on criminal justice reform: recommended statutory sentencing guidelines.
2008 — Madhava Menon Committee (Draft National Policy on Criminal Justice): echoed the call.
2012 — Soman v State of Kerala: the Supreme Court called sentencing one of the weakest parts of criminal justice administration.
2024 — Sunita Devi v State of Bihar: “sentencing shall not be a mere lottery”; the Court asked the Centre to examine a national sentencing policy, possibly via a Sentencing Commission. The Law Commission’s recommendations are awaited.

Figure 1 — The proposed three-stage sentencing framework

Stage 1SeriousnessCulpability × harm:planning, violence,victim vulnerabilityStage 2Starting pointIndicative range for anordinary case, withinstatutory limitsStage 3IndividualiseOffender factors tied torecognised purposes;reasons for departureGuidelines: advisory but strongly presumptive — courts must consider themand explain departures (preserves judicial independence, adds accountability)

Modelled on the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. Diagram drawn by Legacy IAS from the authors’ proposal.

The Proposed Council — Three Functions

Offence-specific guidelines using the three-stage method above.
National sentencing database built on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) — anonymised data on offence, factors and final sentences to reveal disparities.
Parliamentary oversight: guidelines issued as delegated legislation, laid before Parliament.

Why It Matters

Equality and fairness: unexplained disparity sits uneasily with Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 21 (fair, just and reasonable procedure).
Bias: research on rape sentencing has found reduced sentences based on legally irrelevant factors such as the complainant’s “chastity”.
Pendency: appellate courts spend time correcting sentences case by case; guidelines could reduce appeals.
Prisons: about three-fourths of India’s prisoners are undertrials; better use of probation and non-custodial options could ease overcrowding.

Counter-View and Balance

Judicial independence: rigid guidelines can become mechanical; the U.S. federal guidelines were made advisory in United States v Booker (2005).
Diversity of contexts: a vast country with varied social conditions needs flexibility; hence the proposal for presumptive but not binding guidelines.
Data gaps: a reliable database must come first, or guidelines will rest on assumptions.

✎ Mains Practice Question

“Sentencing shall not be a mere lottery.” Examine the problems of unguided judicial discretion in sentencing in India and evaluate the case for a statutory Sentencing Council. 15 marks · 250 words

“Economic Policy Cannot Outweigh Citizens’ Lives”: Supreme Court Questions the Regulation of Medicine Prices

Core TopicGS-II · Health, Governance — Regulatory Bodies; Right to HealthGS-III · Pharmaceutical SectorPrelims + MainsThe Hindu

Hearing petitions on excessive markups, a Supreme Court Bench asked why the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had not capped trade margins on essential medicines and why caps on some anti-cancer drugs came only after judicial scrutiny. The Centre argued that complete price control could deter investment. The Court reserved its order.

◈ Static Background — How Drug Prices Are Regulated

Legal basis: the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013, issued under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
Regulator: the NPPA, set up in 1997 under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, fixes and monitors prices.
Scheduled formulations: medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) — 384 medicines in NLEM 2022 — have ceiling prices based on the average price of brands with at least 1% market share; revised annually with the Wholesale Price Index.
Non-scheduled formulations: outside ceilings; manufacturers may raise prices by up to 10% a year.
Extraordinary power: Paragraph 19, DPCO allows price intervention in public interest — used for trade margin rationalisation of anti-cancer drugs in 2019.
Retail margin: DPCO allows retailers a 16% margin on scheduled formulations.

Figure 2 — Two tracks of medicine pricing

Scheduled (NLEM)Non-scheduled• Ceiling price fixed by NPPA• Annual revision linked to WPI• 16% retailer margin• 384 medicines (NLEM 2022)• No ceiling; up to 10% rise a year• Trade margins often very high• Para 19: margin caps possible —137 anti-cancer drugs capped at30% of MRP (from 9 November)

The Court questioned the basis of the scheduled/non-scheduled divide and why the retail margin should not apply to all essential medicines. Diagram drawn by Legacy IAS from DPCO 2013.

The Arguments in Court

The Bench: economic policy cannot take precedence over citizens’ lives; it asked how “essential” is decided and why margin caps on 137 anti-cancer drugs came only now.
The Centre: “complete government control” could hurt investment and supply; periodic interventions are preferable to blanket control.
Hospitals: argued that capping margins would make operations unviable — a contention the Bench rejected.

Critical Assessment

Right to health: the Supreme Court has read health into Article 21 (Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity, 1996); Article 47 places public health among the State’s primary duties.
Out-of-pocket burden: medicines are the largest component of households’ out-of-pocket health spending in India.
Trade-off: India is the “pharmacy of the world” for generics; overly rigid controls can discourage production or lead to shortages, as manufacturers have argued.
Middle path: trade-margin rationalisation targets distribution markups rather than manufacturers’ prices; wider use, with transparent criteria, may balance access and viability. Expansion of Jan Aushadhi Kendras complements regulation.

✎ Mains Practice Question

Affordable access to essential medicines is integral to the right to health, yet price regulation must not undermine supply. Examine India’s drug-pricing framework and suggest reforms to strike this balance. 15 marks · 250 words

International RelationsGeneral Studies Paper II

Israel Votes: How a Pure Proportional-Representation System Elects the Knesset and Forms Governments

ImportantGS-II · IR — West Asia; Polity — Comparative Electoral SystemsPrelims + MainsThe Indian Express · Explained

About 7.3 million Israelis were eligible to elect the 26th Knesset on 27 October 2026 — the first Knesset since 1988 to complete its full four-year term. With 38 registered lists and a 3.25% threshold, the outcome will again depend on coalition-building.

◈ Static Background — Israel’s System

No single written constitution: a set of Basic Laws serves constitutional functions.
Parliamentary democracy: a unicameral Knesset of 120 members with a four-year term; the government needs the Knesset’s confidence — a working majority of 61.
President: a largely ceremonial head of State elected by the Knesset for a single seven-year term, who assigns the mandate to form a government.
Judiciary: headed by the Supreme Court, which reviews legislation; a 2023 attempt to curtail its review power was struck down in January 2024.
Elections: run by a Central Elections Committee; lists or candidates may be disqualified under Section 7A of the Basic Law for denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic State, incitement to racism or support for armed struggle.

Figure 3 — Raising the electoral threshold (% of national vote)

1%19511.5%19922%20033.25%2014Clearing 3.25% guarantees at least 4 of 120 seats

Higher thresholds push small parties to merge into joint lists. Chart recreated by Legacy IAS from figures reported by The Indian Express.

How a Government Is Formed

Nationwide list PR: the whole country is one constituency; seats are allotted in proportion to votes among lists crossing 3.25%. Votes for lists below the threshold are effectively wasted.
Always a coalition: no single party has ever won 61 seats on its own.
The mandate: after consulting all successful lists, the President asks the candidate most likely to command 61 seats to form a government within 28 days, extendable once by 14 days; if that fails, another candidate gets 28 days. A deadlock can lead to fresh elections, with a caretaker government in the interim.

Comparative Lens — India and Israel

India uses First-Past-The-Post for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections — simpler and producing clearer majorities, but with gaps between vote share and seat share.
India uses proportional representation (single transferable vote) only for indirect elections — Rajya Sabha, President and Vice-President.
Trade-off: list PR maximises representation of diverse views but can produce fragmentation, frequent elections and strong leverage for small coalition partners.

✎ Mains Practice Question

Compare the First-Past-The-Post system with list-based proportional representation, using the examples of India and Israel. Would a mixed system suit India’s democracy? 10 marks · 150 words

Economy & InfrastructureGeneral Studies Paper III

InvITs Draw More Investors as India Seeks Household Savings for Infrastructure

ImportantGS-III · Economy — Infrastructure Financing, Capital Markets, Mobilisation of ResourcesPrelims + MainsThe Hindu · Business

Listed Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) had 6.53 lakh investors and assets under management of ₹7.3 lakh crore in the first quarter of FY27, with distributions of ₹5,923 crore in the quarter, according to the Bharat InvITs Association.

◈ Static Background — What Is an InvIT?

Definition: a trust, similar to a mutual fund, that pools investors’ money to own completed, income-generating infrastructure — toll roads, power transmission lines, pipelines, telecom towers.
Regulation: SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014; the first listed InvIT came in 2017. Its real-estate counterpart is the REIT.
Payout rule: must distribute at least 90% of net distributable cash flows to unitholders.
Public use: NHAI InvIT and PowerGrid InvIT (2021) monetise government assets; the National Monetisation Pipeline (2021) and the Asset Monetisation Plan 2025–30 rely on such vehicles.

Figure 4 — How an InvIT works

Investorshouseholds, fundsbuy units≥90% distributedInvIT (trust)trustee + manager; SEBIownsOperating assetsroads, power linesSponsor recycles capital

Developers monetise completed assets and reinvest in new projects. Diagram drawn by Legacy IAS.

Why it matters: India’s infrastructure needs exceed what budgets and foreign capital can supply; InvITs offer a route for long-term domestic savings — from households, insurers and pension funds — to reach infrastructure.
Benefits: regular income for investors; asset recycling for developers; better price discovery and transparency for public assets.
Risks: traffic or tariff shortfalls reduce payouts; interest-rate changes affect unit prices; liquidity in some listed InvITs is thin; retail investors need clear risk disclosure.

✎ Mains Practice Question

Discuss the role of Infrastructure Investment Trusts in financing India’s infrastructure and mobilising household savings. What safeguards are needed for retail investors? 10 marks · 150 words

Science & TechnologyGeneral Studies Paper III

NVS-03 Launch Could Restore NavIC, India’s Regional Satellite Navigation System

Core TopicGS-III · S&T — Space Technology; Security — Strategic AutonomyPrelims + MainsThe Indian Express · Explained

ISRO is slated to launch NVS-03, its third second-generation navigation satellite, on 30 October. NavIC had stopped providing location data after atomic-clock failures, satellites reaching end of life and failed replacements; NVS-03 would help restore the minimum of four working satellites needed for positioning.

◈ Static Background — Satellite Navigation Basics

How it works: a receiver calculates its position from the time signals take to arrive from several satellites. At least four satellites are needed — three for position and one to correct the receiver’s clock.
Atomic clocks on satellites keep time precisely; a timing error of a billionth of a second translates into about 30 cm of position error.
Global systems (GNSS): GPS (U.S.), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), BeiDou (China). Regional: NavIC (India), QZSS (Japan).
NavIC (IRNSS): a seven-satellite constellation — 3 in geostationary and 4 in inclined geosynchronous orbits — covering India and about 1,500 km around it, with accuracy better than 20 m for civilian users. Named NavIC in 2016.
Two services: a Standard Positioning Service for civilians and an encrypted Restricted Service for authorised (including military) users.

Figure 5 — India’s navigation constellation at a glance

NavIC7 satellites3 GEO + 4 GSOCoverage: India+ ~1,500 kmNeeds ≥ 4 workingsatellites for a fixFirst generation — IRNSS-1A to 1I (2013–2018)Imported rubidium clocks; several clock failures; IRNSS-1H lost (2017)Second generation — NVS seriesAdds L1 band (phone-friendly); indigenous rubidium clocks; longer lifeNVS-01 (May 2023) in orbit · NVS-02 (Jan 2025) — stranded intransfer orbit after valve failure · NVS-03 — slated 30 Oct 2026

Diagram drawn by Legacy IAS from ISRO information and reporting by The Indian Express.

What Went Wrong

Clock failures: imported atomic clocks on several first-generation satellites failed, leaving satellites unable to provide navigation.
Launch setbacks: IRNSS-1H (2017) was lost when the heat shield failed to separate; NVS-02, launched in January 2025 on ISRO’s 100th launch from Sriharikota, could not raise its orbit because of a propulsion-valve failure.
Ageing fleet: satellites reached the end of their design life faster than replacements arrived.

Why It Matters

Strategic autonomy: reliance on foreign systems carries the risk of denial or degradation during conflict — the oft-cited lesson of the 1999 Kargil conflict.
Civilian uses: fisheries alerts, disaster management, vehicle tracking, railways, precise timing for power grids, banking and telecom.
Adoption: the L1 band on NVS satellites makes NavIC easier to integrate into mainstream smartphones.

The Critical View

Reliability over announcements: a navigation system’s value lies in continuous availability; gaps undermine user and industry confidence.
Redundancy: spare satellites and faster replacement cycles are needed, along with fully indigenous clocks.
Ecosystem: chipsets and receivers supporting NavIC must become standard for the system to be used widely.

✎ Mains Practice Question

An indigenous satellite navigation system is a strategic necessity, not a luxury. Examine the significance of NavIC for India and the challenges that have affected its reliability. 15 marks · 250 words

From Laboratory to Land: PFBR Reaches Criticality as ESTIC Spotlights India’s Research Push

Core TopicGS-III · S&T — Nuclear Energy, R&D Policy, IndigenisationPrelims + MainsThe Hindu

At the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2026, the Prime Minister said the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam has reached first criticality — a milestone for the second stage of India’s nuclear programme — and outlined commitments for research funding under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF).

◈ Static Background — India’s Three-Stage Nuclear Programme

Architect: Homi J. Bhabha (born 30 October 1909) designed the programme in the 1950s to use India’s modest uranium and large thorium reserves (in coastal monazite sands of Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu).
Stage I — PHWRs: Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors burn natural uranium and produce plutonium-239.
Stage II — Fast Breeder Reactors: use plutonium-based (MOX) fuel and fast neutrons to breed more fissile material than they consume; a thorium blanket can produce uranium-233.
Stage III — Thorium reactors: use thorium–U-233 fuel for long-term energy security.
PFBR: built by BHAVINI (set up 2003) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu; sodium-cooled; core loading began in 2024. Criticality means a self-sustaining chain reaction has been achieved.

Figure 6 — The three stages and where PFBR fits

Stage IPHWRsNatural uranium in→ plutonium outStage IIFast Breeders (PFBR)Plutonium MOX fuel;thorium blanket → U-233First criticality: 2026Stage IIIThorium reactorsThorium + U-233for the long termStage II is the bridge that unlocks India’s large thorium reserves

Diagram drawn by Legacy IAS from Department of Atomic Energy information.

▤ The Research Agenda Highlighted at ESTIC

ANRF: created by the ANRF Act, 2023 to fund and coordinate research, with a large share expected from the private sector; efforts to speed up its work are under way.
Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme: a ₹1 lakh crore fund for long-term, low-cost finance to private R&D — including ₹12,000 crore for lab-to-market translation with matching private investment, as stated.
Patents: filings in India rose from about 50,000 to 1.5 lakh a year, as stated.
Milestones cited: Chandrayaan-3’s landing near the lunar south pole, Mangalyaan, satellite docking, private launch vehicles, domestic AI models and chips.
AI caution: AI can raise productivity but should not replace scientists’ independent judgement.

Critical Assessment

R&D spending: India’s gross expenditure on R&D is about 0.6–0.7% of GDP, far below leading innovators; private-sector share is low — the gap ANRF and the RDI fund aim to address.
Patents vs impact: rising filings are encouraging, but grant quality, commercialisation and global citations matter more.
Nuclear timelines: the PFBR took over two decades from construction start to criticality; scaling fast reactors and meeting the 100 GW by 2047 nuclear goal will require faster execution and private participation.
Balanced view: the PFBR milestone validates decades of indigenous work on a technology few countries have mastered.

✎ Mains Practice Question

Explain the rationale of India’s three-stage nuclear power programme. What is the significance of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor achieving criticality for India’s long-term energy security? 15 marks · 250 words

Immersive Technologies: AR, VR and India’s AVGC-XR Ambitions

ImportantGS-III · S&T — Emerging Technologies; Economy — Creative IndustriesPrelims-orientedPIB Backgrounder · 26 Oct 2026

India’s immersive-technology market — about USD 1.26 billion in 2023 — is projected to reach about USD 7.8 billion by 2030 (a 29.8% CAGR). Policy support comes through the broader AVGC-XR framework rather than a standalone scheme.

Figure 7 — The family of extended-reality technologies

XR is the umbrella term for AR, VR and MR. Infographic courtesy PIB (source: India Cine Hub), 26 October 2026; reproduced with credit for educational use.

◈ Concepts to Know

Augmented Reality (AR): overlays digital information on the real world (e.g. via a phone camera).
Virtual Reality (VR): a fully digital environment, usually through a headset.
Mixed Reality (MR): real and virtual objects coexist and interact in real time.
Haptics: touch-based feedback through vibration or pressure; 360° video lets viewers look in every direction.
Digital twin: a live virtual replica of a physical asset or city, used for planning and simulation.

Uses in India: AR/VR learning for rural schools (IIT Madras); museum digitisation through JATAN and virtual tours of ASI museums at Hampi and Nalanda; DoT’s “Sangam: Digital Twin” initiative and a National Digital Twin goal for major cities by 2035.
Institutions: AVGC Promotion Task Force (April 2022) under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting; the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai (2025) as a national centre of excellence; the WaveX media-tech accelerator; the WAVES summit.
Budget 2026–27: ₹250 crore for AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges, with IICT as nodal agency.
Concerns: cost of hardware, digital divide, data privacy (headsets collect biometric and behavioural data) and health effects of prolonged use.

✎ Mains Practice Question

Discuss the potential of immersive technologies in education, heritage conservation and urban governance in India, and the challenges in their adoption. 10 marks · 150 words

Geography, Disasters & EnvironmentGeneral Studies Papers I & III

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab Makes Landfall in Andhra Pradesh; Odisha Evacuates Southern Districts

Core TopicGS-I · Geography — Tropical CyclonesGS-III · Disaster ManagementPrelims + MainsThe Hindu; PIB · Ministry of Civil Aviation

Cyclone Arnab, a very severe cyclonic storm with winds of 125–135 km/h gusting to 150 km/h, was forecast to cross the coast near Yanam–Kakinada early on 28 October. Andhra Pradesh evacuated over 84,000 people to 290 shelters and brought 30,000 boats ashore; Odisha began moving 48,000 people in its southern districts.

◈ Static Background — Tropical Cyclones

Formation needs: warm sea surface (above about 26.5–27°C), a pre-existing low-pressure disturbance, the Coriolis force (hence no cyclones within about 5° of the equator), low vertical wind shear and upper-level divergence.
Structure: a calm eye ringed by the eyewall of strongest winds; rotation is anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
Hazards: strong winds, very heavy rain, storm surge and inland flooding and landslides.
Seasonality: the Bay of Bengal gets several times more cyclones than the Arabian Sea; peaks are in pre-monsoon (April–June) and especially post-monsoon (October–December).
Naming: cyclones in the North Indian Ocean are named from a list of 169 names (adopted 2020) contributed by the 13 member countries of the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones; IMD’s RSMC New Delhi assigns them. “Arnab” was contributed by Bangladesh.

Figure 8 — IMD classification of cyclonic disturbances (maximum sustained wind, km/h)

Depression · 31–49Deep Depression · 50–61Cyclonic Storm · 62–88Severe Cyclonic Storm · 89–117Very Severe Cyclonic Storm · 118–165 ← ArnabExtremely Severe Cyclonic Storm · 166–220Super Cyclonic Storm · 222 and above

Chart drawn by Legacy IAS from IMD’s classification.

Prelims Hooks

Yanam is part of the Union Territory of Puducherry, an enclave surrounded by Andhra Pradesh near Kakinada.
Response agencies: NDMA and NDRF under the Disaster Management Act, 2005; State Disaster Management Authorities; the National Crisis Management Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.
Aviation response: the Ministry of Civil Aviation coordinated AAI, DGCA, BCAS, IMD and airlines; airports at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Rajahmundry suspended operations.

India’s Cyclone Preparedness — From Loss to Resilience

1999 Odisha super cyclone: about 10,000 deaths; led to the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority — India’s first such State body.
Phailin (2013) and later storms: evacuation of around a million people kept deaths low — a model praised internationally.
National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (World Bank-supported): multipurpose cyclone shelters, early-warning dissemination and coastal embankments.
Remaining gaps: loss of livelihoods (fishing, agriculture), damage to power and telecom networks, and urban flooding; resilience must cover recovery, not only evacuation.

✎ Mains Practice Question

India has sharply reduced cyclone-related deaths over the past two decades, yet economic losses continue to mount. Examine the factors behind this shift and suggest measures to build long-term cyclone resilience along the east coast. 15 marks · 250 words

Glaciers Ending in Lakes and Oceans Account for Over Half of Global Glacier Ice Loss

ConciseGS-I · Geography — GlaciersGS-III · Climate Change, Disasters (GLOFs)Prelims-orientedThe Hindu (PTI)

A study in Nature Communications finds that glaciers ending in lakes, oceans or ice shelves — just over 3% of glaciers but more than half of glacier area — lost about 134 billion tonnes of ice a year in 2000–2019, over half of all glacier loss. Lake-ending glaciers lose about 57% more ice than land-ending ones relative to size.

Mechanisms: calving (ice breaking off as icebergs) and melting of ice below the waterline; lake- and ocean-ending glaciers also flow faster (by about 10% and 44%).
Model gap: glacier projections do not yet fully account for lake-ending glaciers.
India link — GLOFs: growing glacial lakes raise the risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, as at Kedarnath (2013, Chorabari lake) and South Lhonak, Sikkim (2023). NDMA issued GLOF guidelines in 2020 and a national programme targets high-risk lakes with early warning and lake-lowering measures.

✎ Mains Practice Question

Glacial lakes in the Himalaya are expanding with warming. Discuss the risks posed by Glacial Lake Outburst Floods and the measures needed for their mitigation in India. 10 marks · 150 words

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Ending the “Sentencing Lottery”: The Case for a National Sentencing Council

“Economic Policy Cannot Outweigh Citizens’ Lives”: Supreme Court Questions the Regulation of Medicine Prices

Israel Votes: How a Pure Proportional-Representation System Elects the Knesset and Forms Governments

InvITs Draw More Investors as India Seeks Household Savings for Infrastructure

NVS-03 Launch Could Restore NavIC, India’s Regional Satellite Navigation System

From Laboratory to Land: PFBR Reaches Criticality as ESTIC Spotlights India’s Research Push

Immersive Technologies: AR, VR and India’s AVGC-XR Ambitions

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab Makes Landfall in Andhra Pradesh; Odisha Evacuates Southern Districts

Glaciers Ending in Lakes and Oceans Account for Over Half of Global Glacier Ice Loss