Puneet A

Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time. Flying thousands of kilometres circumventing the mighty Himalayas, harriers arrive in India’s grasslands around July every year, when winter sets in across their breeding grounds in Central Asia and Russia. Mated pairs perform a suave mid-air food pass, with the male dropping prey for the

A May 2026 study describes a new species of toad (Duttaphyrnus phawngpui sp. nov.) from Phawngpui National Park, located in southeastern Mizoram along the border with Myanmar. Researchers studied two individuals found at the hilltops. The species was named after Phawngpui, Mizoram’s highest mountain peak at 2,157 metres above sea level. True toads of the

Facing a deepening El Niño and widespread drought, India’s agriculture ministry has lowered the 2026-27 foodgrain target to 373.93 million tonnes, with 177.72 million tonnes set for Rabi. Maharashtra and Karnataka have sought central aid as over half the country faces dry conditions. Authorities are steering farmers away from water-guzzling crops and promoting pulses, oilseeds

Cholera, an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae bacteria, continues to be a challenge for today’s world, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on September 30, as it presented latest global trends in the ailment besides meningitis and plague. Deaths due to cholera increased by 30 per cent in 2025, despite

Summary Heavy rain is expected across Northeast India, with Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura facing yellow alerts and thunderstorms. Southern states may receive heavy showers, strong winds and thunderstorms, particularly across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka. The Myanmar weather system has weakened into a low-pressure area and is expected to weaken further during the

Africa holds vast reserves of key transition minerals for electric vehicles and renewable energy, yet most countries export them raw, capturing little value. A World Bank–commissioned study finds limited local processing, weak industrialisation and heavy dependence on Asian buyers, especially China. It argues that only deeper regional cooperation, shared infrastructure and coordinated policies can turn

India is preparing to double its coking coal output by 2030, especially to meet its steel manufacturing needs. While carbon emissions from coal use are well known, coal mining also produces methane emissions, which warrant early attention. If monitoring and abatement measures are not incorporated at the planning stage, it could lock in higher emissions