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New Delhi - A fresh political and environmental controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh as the Congress party sharply accused the Adani Group of "procedural short-circuiting" and carrying out "large-scale tree felling" in the Dhirauli region for a new coal mining project. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh labeled the reported deforestation as a grave "environmental tragedy" and a "social and economic disaster" for the local Adivasi communities. Reports have emerged that tree-felling activity has commenced under heavy police protection, while local communities, including members of a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), continue to protest the project. The villagers’ livelihoods are intrinsically tied to the forest produce like mahua and tendu, which are now being threat...

Geneva - Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF have announced a landmark agreement that will dramatically reduce the cost of the highly effective R21/Matrix-M™ malaria vaccine and unlock millions of additional doses, marking a major turning point in the global effort to combat one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases. The new deal reduces the price of the R21/Matrix-M™ vaccine to US 2.99 per dose, a significant cut expected to take effect within the next year. This sharp reduction is projected to save up to US 90 million for Gavi and implementing countries, enabling the full vaccination of nearly 7 million more children and securing more than 30 million additional vaccine doses over the next five years. Financing Innovation Accelerates Access The breakthrough was made pos...

A barren coal waste heap on the edge of Rybnik in southern Poland has undergone a dramatic transformation after scientists applied a mineral-organic additive and a tailored seed mixture that allowed vegetation to grow directly on the harsh rock surface. The experimental plot, covering about 10,800 square feet, changed from lifeless rubble to a colourful meadow within a single growing season, offering a promising model for restoring thousands of acres of post-mining landscapes. Turning Waste Rock into Living Soil The project was led by Łukasz Pierzchała from the Water Protection Department of the Central Mining Institute. His team has been studying how to stabilise former mining sites by rebuilding soil, improving water quality, and encouraging natural vegetation to grow without the c...

A student team at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut has unveiled an autonomous quadcopter designed to support search-and-rescue operations during floods, landslides, and other climate-driven disasters. The innovation, developed by a 15-member group known as Team Paravai, marks a new step in deploying compact aerial systems for emergency response. Student Team Aims for Practical, Field-Ready Design Formed in August, Team Paravai set out to create a drone that could work reliably in hazardous environments where human access is limited. The project received technical guidance and financial backing from Kokos.AI, whose research and development specialists collaborated closely with the students throughout the build process. The quadcopter was showcased at SAE Aerothon 2025 in ...

Polar ocean currents are entering a new and more energetic phase as sea ice continues to thin and retreat across both hemispheres. With larger stretches of open water now exposed, winds are exerting stronger force on the ocean surface, intensifying sideways mixing that redistributes heat, nutrients and even pollutants near the top layers of the sea. Scientists warn that these shifts could ripple through marine food webs and influence how much heat the Arctic and Southern Oceans release back into the atmosphere. A research team led by Gyuseok Yi, a doctoral scholar at Pusan National University working with the Institute for Basic Science, used a high-resolution Earth system model to examine how warming is changing the mechanics of polar circulation. Their model can track currents only a ...

A new analysis released by NASA’s Earth Observatory has revealed a stark and persistent decline in Arctic sea ice, confirming that both summer and winter ice levels have been shrinking for decades. The findings, based on satellite records spanning from 1978 to March 2025, show that the Arctic is undergoing rapid and unprecedented change, with scientists warning that parts of the region could become ice-free before the end of the century. For centuries, the Arctic Ocean has followed a predictable cycle: sea ice expands through winter, reaching its maximum in March, and melts in summer, hitting its minimum in September. While this rhythm continues, NASA’s long-term images and measurements show that the overall volume of ice is diminishing year after year. The latest comparison, made throu...

Germany has announced a major financial commitment to Brazil newly launched rainforest protection fund, pledging €1 billion over the next decade to support global efforts to curb deforestation and strengthen climate action. The announcement was made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, where Brazil unveiled an ambitious framework to safeguard the world’s tropical forests. Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva confirmed the pledge on Wednesday, calling it a crucial boost for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a global mechanism designed to reward rainforest conservation and penalise deforestation through satellite-based monitoring. The system aims to directly support countries that protect their forests while ensuring accountability for t...

For nearly four centuries, an entire continent lay unnoticed beneath the waves of the southwest Pacific. Known today as Zealandia, this vast underwater landmass larger than India and almost two-thirds the size of Australia spent most of human history missing from maps, overlooked by textbooks and absent from scientific agreement. Only in recent years has it finally claimed recognition as Earth’s long-lost eighth continent. In 2017, a team of geologists formally declared Zealandia a continent after decades of accumulating clues. Their finding stunned the global scientific community. Zealandia possesses a continental crust, distinct tectonic boundaries, and a clear geological lineage that traces back to the supercontinent Gondwana. Yet 94 percent of it lies submerged beneath the ocean, ma...

The Supreme Court’s latest move to recall its earlier Vanashakti judgement has reopened a crucial debate in India’s environmental governance. The development raises concerns that prior environmental clearance, a mandatory safeguard meant to prevent ecological damage, may gradually become optional if retrospective approvals gain legal acceptance again. Supreme Court reopens issue of retrospective clearances On November 18, 2025, the Supreme Court recalled its May 15 Vanashakti vs Union of India judgement, which had categorically barred the grant of retrospective or ex post facto environmental clearances. The earlier ruling had invalidated the Union environment ministry’s 2017 Notification and 2021 Office Memorandum that allowed industries to regularise violations even after beginning ...

Delhi-NCR has moved into a sharper phase of pollution control, with authorities advancing the 50% work-from-home (WFH) recommendation as air quality remains trapped in the “very poor” to “severe” bracket. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has shifted the WFH advisory from Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to Stage 3, accelerating action in response to the deteriorating air. The decision, issued on November 21, pushes state governments and the Delhi administration to activate mobility-reducing measures much earlier than before. WFH and Staggered Office Timings Come Into Force Following the directive, the Delhi government on Saturday advised private offices to function with only half their staff on site, while the rest work remotely. Environment minist...