Breaking News

UNESCO has launched the world’s first Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects, a digital space unlike any traditional museum. Instead of expanding its collection, this museum aims to one day empty itself by returning every stolen item it showcases to its rightful home. Unveiled in September at UNESCO MONDIACULT 2025 conference, the museum is the first global platform dedicated to stolen and trafficked cultural artifacts. It seeks to raise awareness about the illicit trade of cultural property while providing a free, immersive, and interactive experience accessible worldwide. Currently the museum displays 240 stolen or missing objects from 46 countries rendered in 2D and 3D formats. Visitors can browse artifacts ranging from ancient manuscripts and coins to sculptures and paintings....

Gurugram: Making Model Gurugram (MMG), under the aegis of Rurban Initiatives, has submitted a comprehensive proposal to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to reform the city’s sanitation, waste collection, and monitoring mechanisms. The framework, titled “A Submission on Waste Management,” outlines actionable strategies to address four major urban challenges construction debris, road dust, horticulture waste, and garbage burning. Construction Waste Tops the List of Concerns According to the report, Gurugram generates more than 2,000 tonnes of construction and demolition (C&D) waste daily, far exceeding the 1,500-tonne capacity of the Basai processing plant. MMG has proposed setting up 30–35 demarcated dumping points across the city and ensuring direct waste collection un...

A new study has revealed that baleen whales including species such as blue, fin, minke, and humpback whales play a far greater role in ocean health than previously understood. Their waste releases vital nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron into the water, which can increase ocean primary productivity by up to 10%, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For years, scientists knew whales helped recycle nutrients, but this is the first time their precise impact on marine productivity has been measured. Researchers collected and analyzed feces and urine samples from minke and fin whales to determine nutrient concentrations. They then used ecosystem models to estimate how the nutrient release from several baleen species affects phytop...

In a significant milestone for Indian agriculture, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced that the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has facilitated the first-ever air shipment of GI-tagged Indi Lime from Karnataka and Puliyankudi Lime from Tamil Nadu to the United Kingdom. Calling it a “major boost to farmers,” Goyal said the achievement would empower cultivators, open new export avenues, and strengthen India’s agricultural presence in global markets. Earlier this year, APEDA had successfully exported three metric tons of GI-tagged Swadeshi Lime from Vijayapura, Karnataka, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking another step toward global recognition of India’s regional specialties. The Geographical Indication (GI) tag is awarde...

Delhi woke up on Thursday morning under a thick layer of haze and fog, pushing the air quality into the “very poor” category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city average Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 357 at 8 a.m., up sharply from 279 a day earlier. Several monitoring stations recorded alarming figures, with Anand Vihar (408) and Vivek Vihar (415) slipping into the “severe” range. Other parts of Delhi, including ITO, Punjabi Bagh, RK Puram, and Dwarka, also reported “very poor” air quality levels, crossing 350. Experts say stagnant winds and dense fog have trapped pollutants close to the surface, leading to reduced visibility. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) noted visibility of 800 to 1,000 metres at Safdarjung and Palam during early hours. ...

The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry has issued a major policy shift, declaring that the relocation of forest-dwelling communities from tiger reserves must only occur as an “exceptional, voluntary, and evidence-based measure.” The new framework emphasizes that communities should have the right to remain in their traditional forest habitats under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), while ensuring that relocation, if undertaken, adheres to strict standards of consent, equity, and scientific justification. The policy outlines the creation of a National Framework for Community-Centred Conservation and Relocation (NFCCR), to be jointly managed by the Environment and Tribal Affairs Ministries. This framework would establish clear procedures, timelines, and accountability systems for any relocation effo...

India agricultural soils are critically deficient in key nutrients such as nitrogen and organic carbon, according to new findings by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Released at the National Conclave on Sustainable Food Systems in Nimli, Rajasthan, the assessment raises alarms about declining soil fertility and its implications for crop productivity and climate resilience. Based on data from the government’s Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme, the study found that 64 per cent of soil samples were “low” in nitrogen and nearly 49 per cent were “low” in organic carbon. These deficits not only threaten food security but also weaken India capacity to store carbon a key factor in mitigating climate change. The report estimates that Indian soils could sequester about 6–7 teragrams of c...

As the world seeks sustainable alternatives to fossil-based materials, Indian climate-tech startup AltM is charting a new path by tapping into the vast potential of agricultural residues abundant in the Global South but notoriously difficult to collect and transport efficiently. Through a feedstock-agnostic and modular model, the company aims to simplify logistics and scale production sustainably, positioning itself as a pioneer in the emerging bio-based economy. AltM’s co-founder AG explained that instead of reinventing the wheel, the company is building on existing supply chains already functioning in pockets across sectors like bioenergy, board manufacturing, and paper pulp. “Our approach is to integrate with those networks instead of reinventing them. By being feedstock-agnostic and...

Under the blazing sun of Brazil semiarid Caatinga shrubland, the piercing cries of the rare Spix’s macaw once again filled the skies a sound thought lost forever after the species was declared extinct in the wild in 2000. The reintroduction of these striking turquoise-blue birds in the Bahia region had sparked global hope for conservation success. But now, the project faces a severe setback: the detection of circovirus, a lethal and highly contagious disease that could threaten the very survival of this fragile population. On May 12, BlueSky, the Brazilian organization overseeing the Spix’s macaw breeding and reintroduction center in Curaçá, Bahia, notified authorities that seven birds had tested positive for circovirus. Among them was one chick born in the wild marking a historic miles...

Efforts to induce artificial rain through cloud seeding over parts of Delhi on Tuesday were “not completely successful,” as the clouds had very low moisture content, according to IIT Kanpur Director Manindra Agarwal. The experiment, carried out jointly by IIT Kanpur and the Delhi government to combat worsening pollution, yielded minimal rainfall and only a modest reduction in particulate matter levels. “There hasn’t been any rain so far, so in that sense, it was not completely successful, Unfortunately, the clouds today did not have high moisture only around 15–20%. The chances of causing rain with such low moisture are limited. But the trial gave our team more confidence to continue testing,” he said. During Tuesday experiment, the team fired 14 flares containing a mixture of 20% si...