Mr. Siddaramaiah urged the PM to extend the Price Deficiency Payment scheme under the Market Intervention Scheme to Karnataka. The scheme is available in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. | Photo Credit: G N Rao Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan urging them to … Read more
Earlier this month, Chennai recorded its hottest March in 25 years. With another intense summer ahead in this coastal city, and humidity exacerbating the effects heart, there is a need for conversations on designing climate-responsive cooler homes and outdoor urban spaces of tree-lined parks, lakes and wetlands. Increasing green cover, implementing reflective roofing materials, … Read more
A file image of President-Designate of the forthcoming climate talks Andre Lago | Photo Credit: Reuters With deepening divisions among countries over trade, the exit of the United States from the Paris Agreement, and multiplying disasters from global warming, the President-Designate of the forthcoming climate talks in Belem, Brazil, Andre Lago, a former Ambassador … Read more
It is now a widely-acknowledged opinion that Amitav Ghosh has contributed tremendously to the world’s understanding of climate change and colonialism and neo-imperialism, with his immaculate understanding of both, and his ability to establish the roots of one in another. His writings, over a period of time, both fiction and non-fiction, have enriched literature … Read more
A stream draining industrial effluents, sewage, dirt and other toxic substances into the Yamuna river | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma Think of the various products we use to clean ourselves and our homes. Toothpastes, shampoos, soaps, dishwashing soaps and more. Did you know that all of these contain chemicals that pollute the water you … Read more
| Video Credit: The Hindu In this week’s Tipping Point, we explore how climate change is affecting India’s wheat production. With extreme heat, increasing heat waves, and unpredictable monsoon patterns, India’s wheat crop is under threat. We dive into the challenges faced by major wheat-producing states and discuss potential solutions, including climate-resilient crop varieties. Also, … Read more
As the world celebrated another World Sparrow Day on Thursday, sparrow enthusiasts in Thiruvananthapuram were grappling with a troubling reality. The once-thriving population of house sparrows in the city and its suburbs has seen a significant decline. A survey undertaken by the Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS), a non-governmental organisation, a day ago has shed … Read more
The ocean has always called to us with its rhythmic waves, endless mysteries and treasures scattered along the shore. Most of us are drawn by the glimmer of a seashell, a tiny piece of the sea we long to take home. But chances are that shell you want is being used – or will be … Read more
Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Rohan Chakravarty is a cartoonist and illustrator from Nagpur. His series, ‘Green Humour’, consists of cartoons and comics on wildlife, nature conservation, environmental issues, sustainability, and all things green. Published – March 20, 2025 01:07 pm IST
NITI Aayog’s Vice Chairman Suman Bery. File | Photo Credit: PIB India and the United States should consider integrating “climate risks” and related technologies into the TRUST framework that was signed recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump, Suman Bery, Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog said at a conference on Wednesday. Also Read … Read more
Image used for representation | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K A study on heatwave preparedness of nine Indian cities, including Delhi, has found out that long-term actions are rare and where such actions exist, they are poorly targeted. Also, all the nine cities focused on immediate responses to heatwaves. Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC), a Delhi-based research … Read more
Tamil Nadu gears up for electric buses: Climate Economy | Video Credit: The Hindu As has been pointed out in earlier episodes of this show, the transport sector is also the second largest contributor to carbon emissions in India. Several States nationwide, have been attempting to decarbonise it with multipronged strategies – one of them … Read more
Chennai’s skies and waters are in a never-ending tussle on who wears the colour blue best. But at the Chennai Port today a first-of-its-kind vessel is docked, its imposing blue-and-white hull inviting curious glances. The vessel, sized somewhere between a ship and a boat looks decidedly out of place among the bulk carriers and container … Read more
Gerard “Gerry” Martin remembers the first snake he held when he was three or four: a red sand boa. “I can still see my fingers and that red sand boa in my hand,” says the Hunsur-based herpetologist and conservationist, the founder trustee of the Liana Trust, which has recently set up India’s first serpentarium focusing … Read more
The Pacific Ocean as seen from an altitude of 35,000 km above mean sea level by the NASA GOES-18 satellite on September 23, 2023. | Photo Credit: NASA It’s that time of the year again. India waits eagerly for the summer monsoon forecast, tinged with some anxiety about whether it will be ‘normal’. The fate … Read more
A study by researchers at IIT Delhi has found that air pollution and climate change will impair solar panel performance in India. It was published in Environmental Research Letters in November 2024. According to the paper, India is the fifth-largest solar power producer worldwide. The country has set a target to produce 50% of its … Read more
The Congress on Sunday (March 16, 2025) attacked the government after a world air quality report ranked India as the world’s fifth most polluted country, and demanded that all “anti-people” environmental law amendments over the past 10 years be rolled back. | Photo Credit: AP The Congress on Sunday (March 16, 2025) attacked the government … Read more
On March 9, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that the Centre had declared the Madhav National Park in Madhya Pradesh as the country’s 58th tiger reserve. This is the ninth tiger reserve in the State, the highest among the States. Maharashtra has six; Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have five each. What is the rationale … Read more
The nightjar is generally considered an elusive bird. But it is often found in the thickets of the HMT Estate in Kalamassery. With no flamboyant feathers or a musical call to boast of, it has a few fans who go looking for it. This medium-sized nocturnal bird has a unique camouflage technique that involves it … Read more
A beekeeper shows a hive full of honeybees. Several entrepreneurs displayed products for the beekeeping industry at the conference. | Photo Credit: File photo For Narpinder Singh Dhaliwal, a farmer and beekeeper from Punjab, beekeeping was never part of his future plans. It was a hobby that changed into a profession. He started beekeeping in … Read more
The Ajgaon zila parishad government school library in Sawantwadi taluka, in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, is over 100 years old. On the first floor of the building, about 40 people between 20 and 70 are gathered from the villages around. On the walls are painted pictures of Savitribai Phule, C.V. Raman, and other social reformers. People … Read more
The differential rate fixed for organic coffee and that produced using pesticides and fertilizers is attracting more tribal growers back to organic cultivation, says the Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of GCC Kalpana Kumari | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak The Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) securing the ‘organic certification’ for its ‘Araku Valley Coffee’, has opened … Read more
A total of 60 hatcheries have been established for nest protection, the highest number to date, leading to a greater number of hatchlings emerging. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu After a slow and concerning start to the Olive Ridley turtle nesting season in Tamil Nadu this year, the situation has significantly improved. Volunteers and … Read more
Suhas Premkumar regularly encountered frogs while growing up in the town of Shikaripur in Karnataka’s Shimoga district. “Frogs coming into our kitchen was a day-to-day story,” says the Bengaluru-based filmmaker, photographer and naturalist whose film Little Planet: A Tale of Frogs premiered in the city on March 2 at the Dr. Ramdas M. Pai Convention … Read more
As the first light of dawn enters the Biodiversity Park at Rani Chandramani Devi Government Hospital in Pedda Waltair in Visakhapatnam, the air hums with life. The rhythmic call of the cuckoo punctuates the morning stillness, as a gentle breeze flows through the lush expanse. A pair of spotted owlets peer curiously from their hollowed-out … Read more
Purnima Devi Barman, a wildlife biologist from Assam, is the unexpected commander of a large, and powerful army. Globally, she is now known as the Stork Sister. The only Indian woman featured in TIME’s Women of the Year 2025 list for her contributions to conservation, Barman is renowned for her pioneering efforts to save the endangered … Read more
Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Green Humour | Photo Credit: Rohan Chakravarty Rohan Chakravarty is a cartoonist and illustrator from Nagpur. His series, ‘Green Humour’, consists of cartoons and comics on wildlife, nature conservation, environmental issues, sustainability, and all things green. Published – March 13, 2025 02:13 pm IST
The mycelia of an oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) growing in a petri dish of ground coffee seeds. | Photo Credit: Tobi Kellner In the light of climate change, the construction industry like many others is considering how it can reduce its carbon footprint and become more sustainable. One opportunity is concerned with bricks. Fired clay … Read more
The species, belonging to the genus Ariosoma, was found off the Thoothukudi coast and was named tamilicum. Researchers at the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), functioning under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), have discovered a new species of Congrid eel and named it after Tamil. The species, belonging to the genus … Read more
In the 17th-century, a German alchemist named Hennig Brandt was on a quest to find the “philosopher’s stone”, a mysterious object that could turn any ordinary metal into gold. When he realised the golden colour of urine, he believed it contained tiny particles of the precious metal. Brand then collected urine from himself, his family, … Read more