Environment & Ecology
Climate, biodiversity, pollution control and environmental legislation
Bonn Climate Conference 2026: Countries debate over how to halt deforestation & who pays for the transition
At the Bonn Climate Conference (SB62/SB64), countries failed to converge on a unified approach to the COP30 forest roadmap aimed at halting and reversing def...
Weak monsoon, El Niño to take a tenth of India’s hydro power generation offline
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has revised its 2026 southwest monsoon forecast down to 90% of the Long Period Average (LPA) — placing the outlook ...
NITI Aayog meet: PM Modi & CMs talk about making energy ‘available & reliable’, prices ‘competitive’
At the 11th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog (June 11, 2026), energy emerged as a central policy theme under the meeting's theme "Inclusive Human Deve...
Modi asks states to harness AI, tackle social risks, prepare for El Nino impact
The 11th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog was held on June 11, 2026 — notably the first instance of all 28 states and 5 Union Territories participatin...
PM Surya Ghar sees 40 lakh installations so far: Local cell mandate may hit solar scheme
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana has surpassed 40 lakh rooftop solar installations across India, making it one of the fastest-scaling residential solar progr...
Gearing up for El Nino: NCCF puts tenders to sell Tur Dal on hold
The National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCCF) has paused tenders for selling tur (arhar) dal from the government's buffer stock, following a request from t...
Govt extends excise duty exemption to higher ethanol-petrol blends
The Central Government has extended the excise duty exemption on petrol blended with higher levels of ethanol, reducing central excise duty to nil on petrol ...
Govt waives excise duty on ethanol-blended petrol
The Finance Ministry notified a complete ("nil") central excise duty exemption on four higher ethanol-blended petrol variants: E22, E25, E27, and E30 (petrol...
BIS sets norms to protect indigenous seeds
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has published Indian Standard IS 20201:2026, a comprehensive management framework for Community Seed Banks (CSBs) across...
El Nino has set in, Positive IOD likely by July, says Japanese weather body
Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA), one of the key international agencies monitoring ENSO, has confirmed that El Niño conditions have set in for 2026. JMA's...
Higher ethanol blended petrol between 22-30% exempted from central excise duty
The Department of Revenue (Ministry of Finance) issued a notification on June 11, 2026, exempting E22, E25, E27, and E30 petrol blends from Central Excise Du...
El Nino is here and scientists fear it’ll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires
Scientists and meteorological agencies have confirmed that an El Niño event has set in for 2026, with forecasts suggesting it could rival or exceed the inten...
Watch: Government waives excise duty on E22 to E30 petrol blends
The Ministry of Finance notified a complete exemption from Central Excise Duty, Special Additional Excise Duty, Road and Infrastructure Cess, and Agriculture...
The El Niño isn’t ‘Super’ yet. But will ‘The Little Boy’ cast a long shadow over India?
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast the 2026 southwest monsoon at 90% of the Long Period Average (LPA), signalling a "below-normal" season...
First UN carbon credits under Paris Agreement face scrutiny over Myanmar junta links
The first carbon credits ever issued under the Paris Agreement's Article 6.4 mechanism — from a cookstove distribution project in Myanmar — are facing intens...
Nations may agree to new target of electricity meeting 35% of global energy demand by 2035
At the Bonn Climate Change Conference (June 2026), the COP31 Presidency — held by Türkiye — launched a new voluntary global electrification goal dubbed "35 b...
Human contribution to global warming highest ever in 2025, says study
A new study — the annual *Indicators of Global Climate Change* report led by the University of Leeds and authored by over 50 international scientists — finds...
Hindu Kush Himalaya region to face drier monsoon, but threats of climate-induced hazards remain: New analysis
A new analysis of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region projects drier monsoon conditions in coming seasons but simultaneously warns that the frequency and in...
E85 launched, but India’s ambitious flexible fuel roadmap is facing a chicken & egg problem
E85 fuel — a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% petrol — was launched across 48 retail outlets in India on 5 June 2026, initially targeting two-wheeler flex-fuel v...
El Niño emerges in Pacific, raising heat risks and crop threats
The first El Niño event since 2023 has emerged in the Pacific Ocean in 2026, with sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacif...