COP31: Fossil-Fuel Transition and Climate Finance

28 Sep 2026

Context: COP31 will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, in November 2026, with Türkiye hosting the conference and Australia overseeing the negotiations process.Türkiye’s Environment Minister Murat Kurum will serve as COP31 President, while Australia’s Clima...

Saving the Rhino, Restoring India’s Grasslands

23 Sep 2026

Context: The greater one-horned rhinoceros is an important ecological and cultural component of the Brahmaputra floodplains and Terai grasslands.India is seeking to consolidate existing rhino populations while expanding the species into suitable part...

Groundwater Depletion in Punjab: From Water Crisis to Rural Inequality

23 Sep 2026

Context: Punjab’s groundwater extraction has reached 152%, making groundwater depletion both an environmental and socio-economic challenge.The crisis is increasingly affecting small and marginal farmers, who lack the capital needed to access deeper g...

Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR)) [Prelims Bits]

22 Sep 2026

Context: A JNTBGRI checklist documented 3,261 flowering plant species in the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve, highlighting its high floral diversity and endemism.Location: Spans Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the southern Western Ghats.Floral diversity: 3,...

Conservation, Compensation and the Monkey Menace in Himachal Pradesh

22 Sep 2026

Context: The death of a 63-year-old woman in Shimla following an attack by rhesus macaques has renewed concerns over human-wildlife conflict.She was attacked by a group of monkeys on the roof of her house on August 30, suffered serious injuries inclu...

DELHI’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE ROADMAP

18 Sep 2026

Context: Rapid EV Growth: India’s electric vehicle (EV) sales increased from 2,322 in FY 2014–15 to 25.45 lakh in FY 2025–26, reflecting rapid electrification of mobility.Delhi’s Strategy: Delhi’s Electric Vehicle Policy aims to accelerate this trans...

Striped Hyenas: Conservation and Ecological Importance

06 Sep 2026

Context: The Indian striped hyena is an important scavenger that helps maintain ecosystem health, but faces conservation challenges due to poor population data, negative cultural perceptions and fragmented conservation efforts.Population and Dis...

Stubble Burning: Why the Solution May Lie Close to the Farm

02 Sep 2026

Context: As the paddy harvesting season approaches, Punjab and neighbouring States are likely to again face the problem of stubble (parali) burning, contributing to severe air pollution in northern India.Farmers face a difficult choice because p...

Deadly Span: Power Infrastructure Threatens India’s Vultures

01 Sep 2026

ContextElectrocution from expanding power infrastructure is emerging as a major threat to India’s vultures, alongside earlier chemical threats.A 2025 official survey found vultures nesting at only 50% of historic nesting sites, indicating continued p...