Environment & Ecology
Climate, biodiversity, pollution control and environmental legislation
What is 100% ethanol blending? | Explained
India has intensified its push toward 100% ethanol fuel (E100) for road vehicles and is simultaneously advancing the use of ethanol as a feedstock for Sustai...
Forecast for strong El Nino fans worries about global crops as Iran war bites
Forecasts from multiple international climate agencies point to a strong El Nino event developing in the second half of 2026, with Japan's meteorological age...
India's wheat output likely at 110-120 mn ton in 2025-26 amid weather damage, says Food Secy
India's wheat production for the 2025-26 crop year is projected to come in between 110 and 120 million tonnes, a revision downward from the agriculture minis...
Scaling climate adaptation from policy to grassroots
With COP30 having concluded in Belém (Brazil) and COP31 approaching, the international community faces its first major political test of whether adaptation f...
UP’s Shekha Jheel joins Ramsar List, India nears milestone of 100 sites
Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, was designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on April 22, 2026, making it I...
Mitigate arsenic & fluoride contamination in groundwater, NGT tells states
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued a directive on April 17, 2026, ordering all state governments to implement measures to mitigate arsenic and fluoride...
INCOIS flags rising marine heatwaves in Arabian Sea, warns of ecological impact
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has flagged a significant and rising trend of marine heatwaves (MHWs) in the Arabian Sea, ...
Carbon costs for cement and aluminium to rise as India's new climate rules tighten by FY2027: ICRA ESG
India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) has entered its first compliance phase for seven energy-intensive sectors, with cement and aluminium facing bindi...
Forest Rights Act supersedes previous court orders: Allahabad High Court on Tharu community rights
The Allahabad High Court, in a judgment dated April 21, 2026, quashed a 2021 order by the District Level Committee (DLC) of Lakhimpur Kheri that had denied f...
Defining El Niño signature may emerge by next month, says Japan-based scientist
Scientists tracking the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system have indicated that a defining El Niño signature in the tropical Pacific Ocean is likely t...
Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary of Aligarh gets a global tag, taking India's tally of protected wetlands to 99
The Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, has been designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, making it India's 99...
Heatwaves will become a major threat to Indian rice production, Ganges and Indus River basin face the most intense risk: FAO-WMO report
A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) titled *Extreme Heat and Agriculture* has speci...
MPC meeting minutes: RBI governor flags inflation risks from energy prices, West Asia conflict & a potential El Niño
Minutes of the April 2026 MPC meeting revealed a detailed risk assessment of three convergent inflation threats: the West Asia conflict, global energy price ...
It’s an idea whose time has come: Oil Ministry on higher ethanol blending
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has described higher ethanol blending beyond 20% as "an idea whose time has come," indicating strong policy intent ...
Extreme heat threatens global food systems, UN agencies warn
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a landmark joint report on World Earth Day 2026, warning...
Unwrapping India’s plastic packaging problem: from boom to crisis
Transparent plastic packaging has driven extraordinary commercial growth — enabling longer shelf lives, supply chain efficiencies, and consumer culture — but...
Govt. alters aviation fuel norms to allow for blending with non-petroleum sources
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued the Aviation Turbine Fuel (Regulation of Marketing) Amendment Order, 2026, dated April 17, 2026, which came ...
Intensifying extreme heat events raise risks to agri-food systems, says report
A joint report titled *Extreme Heat and Agriculture* released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Meteorologic...
Heat, health, and the gaps in preparedness
India's heat crisis is deepening — recent analysis identifies significant gaps in national preparedness for heat-related illness and mortality, even as tempe...
2026 could see a super El Nino and record-breaking global temperatures
Climate scientists and major forecasting agencies are warning that a "super" El Niño event could develop by mid-to-late 2026, with the potential to drive glo...