In the lofty heights of the Himalayas, where clouds drift over snow-capped peaks, a dangerous secret is being carried on the wind. A new scientific study has found that clouds—once believed to offer the purest drinking water—are silently ferrying toxic heavy metals from polluted lowlands to some of Earth’s highest, most fragile ecosystems.

The first global stocktake of urban climate change research has found a critical blind spot, with rapidly growing cities from the Global South underrepresented in studies.

The India Meteorological Department has issued an extremely encouraging and relieving forecast for 2025. This year, the southwest monsoon is expected to be above normal, with an estimated rainfall of about 105 per cent of the average. This good news brings a new ray of hope, especially for the agrarian regions of Uttar Pradesh and the Agra division, where farming is heavily dependent on rainfall.

The entire country is abuzz nowadays, partly due to political heat and partly due to an unexpected temperature spike last month! At this moment, everyone shares the same concern: Will the monsoon from the Arabian Sea make a timely entry into India?

Vrindavan, Agra, Hyderabad, and Mysore are in the news these days because of the mass slaughter of full-grown trees. Our cities, once vibrant mosaics of biodiversity and cultural reverence for nature, are being strangled by a relentless wave of deforestation, driven by developers and builders who prioritise profit over planetary survival. The clandestine felling of trees, often abetted by lax or complicit authorities, has reached a crisis point, with recent cases drawing the ire of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal.

“Rivers are our mothers, we must care for them”, This sentiment, echoed in a timeless song by the Hupa tribe of northern California, resonates deeply as we witness the dire state of Indian rivers, many on the brink of collapse. The urgency to recognize them as living entities with distinct legal rights has never been more pressing.