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A group of botanists from Benin Côte d'Ivoire, and Switzerland have launched the African Network of Palm Scientists to combat the decline of native palm species across the continent due to deforestation, overexploitation, and habitat loss. Though Africa is home to relatively few palm species compared to other tropical regions (with 52 in Central Africa, 38 in West Africa, and 18 in East Africa), palms are essential to the continent's social, economic, and cultural life, providing food, medicine, and construction materials. Key Threats and Conservation Goals African palms are disappearing, with species like Hyphaene guineensis and Sclerosperma profizianum becoming rare. The slow life cycle of palms with seeds taking months or years to germinate and plants growing slowly makes them ...

HONG KONG – Asia faces another major weather threat as Tropical Storm Matmo continues to intensify approaching the Philippines and posing a potential typhoon threat to southern China this weekend. This comes shortly after the region was left reeling from the devastating impact of Super Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest storms to hit the area in years. As of its latest bulletin Tropical Storm Matmo, known locally in the Philippines as Paolo has escalated in strength and is tracking west-northwest. It currently boasts maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (kph) and is moving at a speed of 22 kph toward the vicinity of Luzon the Philippines most populous island. The Philippine weather agency has issued urgent warnings regarding a potential landfall in the provinces of sou...

The annual toxic haze over North India has again placed the spotlight on the country's multi-faceted, yet struggling, strategy to stop farmers from burning paddy stubble. India's "stubble playbook" combines technology subsidies, biological solutions, energy mandates, and financial penalties in a mix of incentives and enforcement. The central strategy is to encourage in-situ (in-field) incorporation of stubble back into the soil through the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Scheme, which provides subsidies for essential farm machinery such as the Happy Seeder and mandates the use of Super Straw Management System (Super SMS) attachments on combine harvesters. The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) acts as the umbrella program facilitating cost-sharing and requiring states to ...

NEW DELHI — The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the continuation of the Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP) Phase-III, securing a significant ₹1,500 crore outlay to bolster India's biomedical research capabilities. The approval reaffirms the government commitment to building a resilient, innovative, and globally competitive biomedical ecosystem aligning with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. The programme, implemented through a partnership between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Wellcome Trust (WT) of the United Kingdom and the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), India Alliance will cover the period 2025–26 to 2030–31, with a budget commitment extending to 2037–38 for grants servicing. The funding split sees the DBT contributing ₹1,000 cro...

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is grappling with a severe and escalating outbreak of the flesh eating screwworm parasite, recording a 32% surge in confirmed cases with the total number now reaching 6,703. The alarming northward progression of the infestation primarily impacting cattle, has led to a major diplomatic dispute with the United States over containment measures and livestock imports. The latest data from Mexico sanitation agency, Senasica, indicates a concerning concentration of the outbreak as it moves closer to the U.S. border. A vast majority of the confirmed cases are in cattle, sparking fears over the safety of the nation livestock and the potential economic fallout for both countries. The New World Screwworm a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow into the living flesh of warm-bloo...

PAKISTAN — Pakistan push for solar energy in its agriculture sector is inadvertently accelerating a looming water crisis, particularly in the breadbasket province of Punjab. As farmers transition to solar-powered tube wells to escape high diesel costs and an erratic power grid the freedom of near-zero-cost irrigation is driving the rapid depletion of groundwater resources. The solar boom has led to an estimated 650,000 tube wells now running on solar power across Pakistan. Farmers are taking advantage of this unlimited, cheap power to irrigate their crops far more regularly, including multiple times a day a practice known as "pulse irrigation" that was previously unaffordable. Dual Impact: Over-Extraction and Crop Change The transition has coincided with an alarming decline in wat...

India appears to be on the verge of a significant entry into the Arctic driven by strategic and economic interests particularly through a partnership with Russia on the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Russia is actively courting India a long-standing partner to participate in the development of the NSR a new shipping corridor along the Russian Arctic coast. The NSR is up to 40% shorter than traditional southern routes like the Suez Canal, offering a faster, safer, and more cost-effective logistics artery between Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Key developments and potential for India bigger Arctic role: • Northern Sea Route (NSR) Partnership: Following Prime Minister Modi visit to Moscow in July 2024, a joint working group co-chaired by officials from both nations was established t...

In an extraordinary display of natural phenomenon thousands of tiny bumblebee catfish (Rhyacoglanis paranensis) were filmed "climbing" a 3- to 13-foot high waterfall in southern Brazil, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Fish Biology. The event which occurred in November 2024 at the Sossego waterfall on the Aquidauana River marks the first documented instance of a fish from the Pseudopimelodidae family exhibiting this waterfall-climbing behavior. A Moving Ribbon of Bodies The twilight ascent was first spotted by the Environmental Military Police and later documented in detail by a research team led by Manoela M. F. Marinho of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS). The fish dominated by mature adults, were observed to spread their paired...

BOGO, PHILIPPINES — Central Philippines is grappling with the devastating aftermath of a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck the region, leaving a trail of death and destruction. As of the latest reports, the quake has claimed at least 69 lives and injured over 200 people, with an unknown number still trapped beneath collapsed buildings and debris. The disaster, described as one of the most powerful in the country over the last decade has triggered a desperate search-and-rescue operation. Rescuers are battling adverse conditions, including rain, damaged infrastructure, and ongoing aftershocks, in a race against time to pull survivors from the rubble. The earthquake epicenter was located near the coastal Bogo City in Cebu province. Bogo a city home to approximately 90,000 re...

The annual toxic haze over North India has again placed the spotlight on the country's multi-faceted, yet struggling, strategy to stop farmers from burning paddy stubble. India's "stubble playbook" combines technology subsidies, biological solutions, energy mandates, and financial penalties in a mix of incentives and enforcement. Here are the core components of the government's approach and the current state of implementation: 1. Flagship Central Schemes (In-Situ Management) The central strategy is to encourage in-situ (in-field) incorporation of stubble back into the soil: • Crop Residue Management (CRM) Scheme: This scheme provides subsidies for essential farm machinery such as the Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, mulchers, and rotavators. • It also mandates the use of Super St...