Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil, known for his work on the conservation of Western Ghats, has passed away in Pune after a brief illness. He was 83.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday proposed a six-month foreign asset disclosure scheme for small taxpayers like students, tech professionals and relocated NRIs as she presented the Union Budget 2026-27.
'His report created a lot of negative reaction in Kerala and in a way, he was crucified for writing such a report.' 'I asked him, "Don't you feel frustrated?"' 'His reply was, "Have you read Bhagavad Gita Chapter2"?' 'He particularly mentioned verse 47, where Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, "Your duty is to work without thinking of the fruits you get".' "He said, "similarly, my duty was to do what best I could do without hoping for any rewards".'
The Natural History Museum, London, has officially unveiled the 24-image shortlist for the 2026 Nuveen People's Choice Award. This prestigious contest, a key part of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and supported by lead sponsor Nuveen, invites the public to decide which image will be crowned the winner.
The integration of artificial AI-based judicial assistance tools into the district court management framework has accompanied the shift.
The Centre has issued a fifth draft notification to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states, including 13 villages in Kerala's landslide-hit Wayanad, Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), inviting suggestions and objections within 60 days.
In India, cricket games are part of our geographical landscape like the Ganga or the Himalayas or the Western Ghats or Kanyakumari. Millions of games unfold across India at any time of day. Travel in any direction and you are bound to see a cricket game in progress -- be it urban gully cricket to games on dusty village grounds to roaring stadiums to famous greens that cradled cricket like Shivaji Park or Azad Maidan.
Sonia Gandhi criticizes the Modi government's environmental policies, claiming they endanger the Aravalli hills and disregard environmental protection.
Gadgil and the report prepared by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by him are back in news after over two dozen people lost their lives in landslides and flash floods in the past few days in the hilly regions of Western Ghats in central Kerala districts of Kottayam and Idukki.
A landslide triggered by continuous rainfall has disrupted traffic on National Highway 75 near Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, halting vehicular movement between Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Authorities are working to clear the debris and restore traffic flow.
Destinations like Coorg, Munnar, the Western Ghats, and parts of the North East, are at their scenic best in the monsoon.
Seven new miniature frog species which can comfortably sit even on a child's thumbnail have been discovered by Indian scientists in the Western Ghats after five years of extensive exploration.
According to the data, the tiger population in the country increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,167 in 2022.
Govt's decision comes two days after the National Green Tribunal had warned of strict action if clarity was not provided on the issue.
If the Western Ghats aren't magical enough already, they take a new life altogether during the monsoons. Anita Rao Kashi travelled through them in possibly the best mode of transport -- the railways.
The 1,600-km-long Western Ghats range runs along the country's western coast spanning six states.
Report consists of recommendations for dividing the Western Ghats region into various ecologically sensitive zones.
'The global climate system doesn't look at where the carbon dioxide is coming from. 'It may be emitted by the US, but it will not remain above the US alone but covers the whole world.'
'It was specifically mentioned in the Gadgil Committee report that this particular area where the colossal landside happened now should be in the Environmentally Sensitive Area under Zone 1.' 'Zone 1 is the most important and ecologically sensitive area, and that it has to be protected entirely.' 'At least 90% of the Wayanad disaster is man-made.'
Skymet expects a good monsoon over western and southern India.
India is expected to experience hotter-than-usual temperatures from April to June, with more heatwave days in central and eastern India and the northwestern plains, the IMD said. Most parts of the country will see higher-than-normal maximum temperatures, except for some areas in western and eastern India where the temperatures are expected to be normal. Minimum temperatures will also be above normal in most regions. The IMD has warned that landslides could occur in parts of Kerala and Karnataka in the Western Ghats and that northeastern states might face flooding in April.
'If the Kasturirangan Committee report is implemented, the mining and quarrying lobbies will flourish... It will be disastrous for the environment... There will be water shortage, there will be pollution. Finally, farmers will have to quit the area.' Dr V S Vijayan, a member of the Gadgil Committee, points out how the Kasturirangan Committee report will hit both people living in the Western Ghats as well as the plains.
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report, submitted by ecologist Madhav Gadgil last year, was further delaying the Rs 30,000-crore (Rs 300-billion) refinery project of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) in Maharashtra, a senior official of the state-run oil marketing firm said. The project has already been delayed due to bureaucratic red tape.
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.' 'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
'I am fascinated by the lurking presence of the tiger.'
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
He said scientists have noticed a trend of very deep cloud systems developing over the southeast Arabian Sea, and added that sometimes, these systems intrude into the land, like in 2019.
An accurate early warning system that correlates rainfall and the potential for landslides. That is the imperative, say experts as rains create havoc in hills across India and the toll mounts in Kerala's Wayanad slopes where landslides buried entire homesteads and possibly hundreds of people.
A list of lesser-travelled destinations in India that you must explore this year!
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
There is a definite attempt to put the landslides on the backburner because news of them and climate change worry Wayanad's tourism and real estate businesses greatly. Whatever I experienced of Wayanad's 2024 by-elections; the July landslides were not a burning issue, observes Shyam G Menon.
Six friends -- Niel, Masban, Mustafa, Elderin, Aakash and Akhtar -- recently went on a bike ride to one of Maharashtra's most happening monsoon getaways -- Malshej Ghat. Here Akhtar Shaikh recounts their journey...
Ria Gada, a Class VII student, describes her breathtaking experience enroute to Peth Gadh, a popular trekking site near Karjat in Maharashtra.
'Except that the population was much less.' 'I remember my uncle and family moving away from the base of a hill whenever it rained for more than a couple of days without a dry day in between.' 'Perhaps the older generations knew if it rained for more than a certain time, they must pack up to a camp or to a relative.' 'As some of the interviews of the survivors on the Malayalam television channels show, the elderly people had a premonition a tragedy would happen, and those who acted on those premonitions survived.'
The deadly landslides in Kerala's ecologically fragile Wayanad district were triggered by a heavy burst of rainfall, made 10 per cent heavier by climate change, according to a new rapid attribution study by a global team of scientists.
Rao's history includes arrests in 2000 by Sahadha police of Nandurbar district and subsequent releases, as well as an underground stint in 2002, leading to his arrest by Malkanoor PS police of Karnataka in 2005.
The actor has many reasons to fall in love with the rains.
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