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NDRF’s 5th Battalion conducted Maharashtra’s first-ever workshop on CBRN Preparedness and Response on Friday at the 3D Auditorium in the Humboldt Penguin Section of Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo, Byculla. The programme was held under the guidance of NDRF Director General Piyush Anand and marked a major step toward enhancing readiness for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies in the state. Key Leadership and Expert Participation Prof (Dr) Dinesh Kumar Aswal, Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), attended the event as the chief guest and addressed participants with detailed insights on strengthening India’s approach to CBRN risks. He emphasised the critical need for faster preparedness, stronger inter-agency coord...

With climate change intensifying and natural disasters becoming more frequent in the Himalayan region, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has begun developing advanced Virtual Reality (VR) technology to strengthen disaster awareness, training and planning. The initiative aims to help communities, responders and officials better understand and prepare for emergencies that repeatedly strike Himachal Pradesh during the monsoon season. VR for Realistic Disaster Simulation IIT Mandi’s Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Management is creating immersive VR headsets that allow users to experience real-time disaster scenarios in a safe, controlled environment. The simulations demonstrate how landslides begin, how floodwaters rise, or how buildings behave during earthquakes. Th...

GMDA and MCG have stepped up enforcement and dust-control measures across Gurugram, launching a coordinated crackdown to curb rising pollution levels in some of the city most sensitive zones. The drive comes days after the Haryana government assigned dual charge to MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya, who now also serves as CEO of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), allowing both bodies to operate under a unified command. Citywide Inspections Across High-Dust Zones Officials said joint teams are conducting continuous inspections across Civil Lines, Sector 15, construction corridors and commercial stretches where dust levels remain persistently high. Strict monitoring of construction sites, road repair works, demolition activities and material storage zones has been in...

Delhi’s air quality plunged deeper into the danger zone on Friday, prompting doctors, pollution experts and residents to issue urgent warnings about a crisis that has now begun to severely impact public health across the National Capital Region. With several parts of the city recording air quality in the ‘severe’ category and hospitals reporting a sharp surge in respiratory cases, the situation has been officially described as “life threatening”. AQI Worsens For Eighth Consecutive Day Delhi recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 370 at 9 am on Friday, according to data from the Sameer app. This marks the eighth day in a row that the Capital has remained in the ‘very poor’ category. Numbers have steadily climbed through the week, rising from 351 on Monday to 392 by Wednesday, signalling a ...

A sealed limestone tomb in central Egypt has yielded a scientific breakthrough that is reshaping the understanding of how early Egyptian civilisation emerged. From inside a ceramic burial pot, scientists have extracted the first complete genome ever sequenced from Egypt’s Old Kingdom period, revealing a surprising genetic connection between North Africa and ancient Mesopotamia. Discovery Inside a Pot Burial The remains were found in a rock-cut tomb located about 275 kilometres south of Cairo. The man, buried between 2855 and 2570 BCE, was placed inside a large ceramic vessel and sealed away in a cool underground chamber. Despite Egypt’s harsh climate, two molars preserved enough genetic material to unveil a major chapter in the region’s human history. A detailed skeletal study sug...

South Africa has declared gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide a national disaster, following massive public protests, online campaigns, and mounting pressure from civil society. The announcement came on Friday after women across major cities staged symbolic 15-minute lie-downs to honour the 15 women killed every day in the country. The decision follows a fresh reassessment by the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) after earlier rejecting calls for disaster classification due to legal constraints. Women in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and 12 other locations were urged to withdraw from the economy for a full day and lie down at midday to represent the daily toll of femicide. The demonstrations formed part of the G20 Women’s Shutdown organised by the advocacy group Women fo...

Tamil Nadu’s historic paddy harvest for 2024-25, driven by abundant Cauvery water and a sharp rise in cultivation, has spiralled into a major procurement crisis across delta districts. With 47.99 lakh tonnes of paddy already procured the highest ever recorded the state is struggling with overflowing purchase centres, moisture-damaged grain, transport bottlenecks and rising tensions between Chennai and New Delhi over quality norms. Chief Minister M K Stalin, who earlier hailed the year as a “record season”, has now written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging urgent relaxation of Fair Average Quality norms and an increase in the Centre’s procurement target for the state. The crisis comes just as the Northeast monsoon sets in, leaving thousands of farmers racing against rain and humidit...

India often celebrates its tiger conservation achievements as a global success story. With 58 tiger reserves across 18 states and over 70 per cent of the world’s remaining tigers, the country has crafted an image of triumph. Yet behind this image lies a quieter, more troubling reality the unresolved suffering of forest communities who have paid the price for this conservation model. The Hegemony Behind Conservation Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony helps explain how the state secures obedience not just through force, but by shaping public consent. Project Tiger embodies this idea. Over decades, through NGOs, bureaucracy, and media narratives, tiger protection has been framed not only as a national priority but a moral obligation. This narrative enjoys wide acceptance, even as i...

A bombing near the Red Fort in Delhi has forced India to confront a darker, more complex face of terrorism one that is now drawing highly educated individuals, including medical professionals, into its fold. This shift marks a disturbing transformation in India’s terror ecosystem, signalling that extremism is no longer confined to the margins but is seeping into sectors traditionally associated with stability, trust and social responsibility. The blast, occurring near one of the country’s most symbolic heritage sites, has sharpened concerns that terror networks are evolving faster than the systems designed to control them. Officials believe this trend widens the risk zone dramatically, embedding the threat deeper into the intellectual and economic arteries of the nation. India’s hist...

India has delivered a 70-metre modular bridge along with specialized launching equipment to Nepal, strengthening ongoing post-disaster reconstruction efforts after October’s devastating rains and landslides. The handover ceremony was held in Hetauda on November 20, where India’s Ambassador to Nepal formally transferred the complete bridge set to Nepal’s Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. The modular bridge, provided on a grant basis, is part of a larger commitment by the Government of India to supply ten high-span bailey bridges requested by Nepal in the aftermath of severe rainfall that struck eastern regions last month. Valued at more than NPR 73 crore, these bridges are intended to swiftly restore disrupted road connectivity in vulnerable districts. The newly handed-o...