Environment

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.

India’s electricity sector has witnessed an unprecedented spike in consumption, driven by an intense and prolonged heatwave that gripped much of the country in May 2026.

Fernando cautioned that declining leaf quality, driven by erratic weather, could soon trigger a broader collapse in quantity and output.

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 persistence of illegal hunting and trade underscores a tension between traditional practices, economic necessity, and modern conservation imperatives.

For millions of Indians whose lives and livelihoods are tied to the rains, the coming weeks will be critical.

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.

In a significant boost to global agricultural cooperation, agriculture ministers from BRICS nations concluded their two-day meeting here with the unanimous adoption of the “Indore Declaration.”