The centre has sounded an alarm over the likely impact of El Niño on India's 2026 southwest monsoon, warning that 315 districts across 12 states could face significant rainfall deficits during the crucial kharif cropping season.
In a sobering assessment released this week, the United Nations has painted a complex portrait of Afghanistan under Taliban governance, where a dramatic increase in security incidents coincides with fragile stability, devastating cross-border violence with Pakistan, and a deepening humanitarian and human rights crisis.
The report comes as India is in the grip of a escalating heat crisis and heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense, and deadly, threatening lives, livelihoods, public health, agriculture, and economic productivity.
For Asia’s rice bowl, the coming months will be critical. Farmers, traders, and policymakers must prepare for a potentially volatile period that could test food security across the region.
While buffers exist, the interplay of El Niño with other climatic factors underscores the growing importance of climate adaptation in India’s agriculture-dependent economy.
Critics from environmental organisations and civil society have described the current legal interpretation as a “simplification that fails to respect the Aravallis’ complex ecology”, warning that it could gradually weaken the shield that the mountain system provides against desertification, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss.