New Delhi: Delhi did not record a single “clean air” day in the winter months, even though annual pollution levels showed signs of improvement, according to a report by Climate Trends based on Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality monitoring data for 2024–25.The study warns that current evaluation metrics under the National Clean Air…
When we want to weigh something, the process is simple. We place it on a weighing machine or on a traditional balance. The number appears and we instantly know how heavy the object is. But imagine a far stranger question. What if the thing you want to weigh is the very ground beneath the scale?…
There are some scientific discoveries that feel immediately sensible. Water is wet, fire is hot, politicians lie. And then there are discoveries that sound as though a group of slightly overworked researchers accidentally wandered into a Transformers writers’ room and decided to take the script seriously. Bumblebee queens, it turns out, can survive underwater for…
Despite the acceleration of clean-energy deployment, the plan reflects heightened concerns about energy security. Coal remains fundamental to the energy system’s reliability, especially as the grid grows more complex with the addition of intermittent renewables. Still, China’s carbon emissions are expected to peak before 2030. The plan lays out a target of reducing carbon intensity…
A routine space mission could turn into a historic ordeal. In May 1991, Sergei Krikalev blasted off for what was meant to be a standard five-month mission to the Mir space station. He was to perform experiments, maintain equipment, and keep the station in working order. Everything seemed ordinary at the time.Back on Earth, the…
This is a wetland in a Karawal Nagar, East Delhi. Once a place where there was water and wildlife thrived, plastic now dominates. A place where there were once water and wildlife, there is now only plastic and other waste. The wetland now lies buried under layers of garbage as people dump waste along its…
The government’s new incentive scheme for municipal bonds aims to encourage larger bond issuances by cities. Past incentives increased bond issuances but not scale, with many cities raising small amounts mainly to claim the incentive. Scaling municipal bonds requires structural reforms, including stronger municipal finances, better planning, financial transparency, and investor safeguards. The views…
Brent crude briefly climbed close to $120 per barrel on March 9, 2026 before retreating. On March 11, while West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $88.6 per barrel. Brent is currently hovering around $88–$90 after briefly dropping below $80 earlier this week. The declining prices follows the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s consideration of the largest…
NEW DELHI: Built-up areas in India’s Aravallis have increased 53 per cent, resulting in a 13.8 per cent increase in average soil lost per year during 2017-2024, even as forest cover has increased in the country’s oldest mountain range over the time period, a study has found.Assessing land use and land cover patterns between 2001…
Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time. Across India’s semi-arid grasslands and scrublands, a carnivore roams and howls. An apex predator, it keeps herbivore populations in check. But as its habitats shrink and human presence grows, this carnivore is beginning to change how it lives and moves across the landscape….