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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/by/abhi-augustine/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:22:55 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>India’s carbon market sets weak emissions targets, analysis finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-carbon-market-sets-weak-emissions-targets-analysis-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-carbon-market-sets-weak-emissions-targets-analysis-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 16:51:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/31160627/pexels-yajna-s-r-55953015-20591230-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39764</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon emissions, Carbon Finance, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Green Business, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Pollution, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A critical evaluation of emissions reduction targets set under the country’s carbon market framework has deemed the targets “modest and unambitious” — unlikely to drive changes in operations that would reduce emissions substantially. Between October 2025 and January 2026 India notified greenhouse gas reduction targets for nine industries. Under the framework, industries can earn carbon [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A critical evaluation of emissions reduction targets set under the country’s carbon market framework has deemed the targets “modest and unambitious” — unlikely to drive changes in operations that would reduce emissions substantially. Between October 2025 and January 2026 India notified greenhouse gas reduction targets for nine industries. Under the framework, industries can earn carbon credits if they surpass these reduction targets, with each credit signifying an additional tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced per unit of production (emissions intensity). The industries covered include cement, aluminium, iron and steel, paper and pulp, chlor-alkali, petroleum refinery, petrochemical units, fertilisers, and textiles. The evaluation of the targets by Climate Risk Horizons (CRH), a research organisation, finds that in addition to the targets being “readily achievable,” over the two-year compliance period, the cost of non-compliance is too low to incentivise the kind of systematic operational changes needed to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. India is the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter, with emissions from industrial processes and product use accounting for approximately 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. In August 2022, the Indian government pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 45% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. It also pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. According to the CRH analysis, the cost of purchasing credits for major companies in the steel, aluminium, and cement sectors is between 0.6% and 7% of profits, assuming credit prices are $10 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, as indicated by S&amp;P Global, which tracks&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-carbon-market-sets-weak-emissions-targets-analysis-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Bihar&#8217;s green budget expands, but environmental indicators show little progress</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/bihars-green-budget-expands-but-environmental-indicators-show-little-progress/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/bihars-green-budget-expands-but-environmental-indicators-show-little-progress/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 14:22:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Umesh Kumar Ray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/31125413/NTPC_Kantin_Muzaffarpur-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39756</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bihar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Cities and Towns, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Mitigation, Environmental Politics, Green Business, Green Energy, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It has been seven years since Bihar introduced a green budget. However, even now, data from various sources suggests little to no improvement in key environmental indicators such as renewable energy, air pollution, biodiversity and waste management, among others. The Bihar government presented its first green budget in 2020-21; this year, 2026, it presented its [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It has been seven years since Bihar introduced a green budget. However, even now, data from various sources suggests little to no improvement in key environmental indicators such as renewable energy, air pollution, biodiversity and waste management, among others. The Bihar government presented its first green budget in 2020-21; this year, 2026, it presented its seventh, amounting to approximately ₹158 billion which is roughly three times the amount of the initial ₹56 billion budget. However, on key environmental indicators, the state&#8217;s performance remains poor. For example, the energy sector accounts for roughly 65% of Bihar&#8217;s total greenhouse gas emissions, driven by coal-based power plants. The shift to renewable energy has been low, with renewable energy capacity for 2025-26 standing at 651 MW, up from 376 MW in 2020. The amount is significantly behind the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) call for increasing renewable capacity to 10,000 MW (10 GW) by 2030 and 28,000 MW (28 GW) by 2050 to achieve a &#8216;net zero&#8217; pathway, as stated in its 2024 report. At the current pace, Bihar will reach around 900 MW, just about a tenth of that 2030 target. Biodiversity data shows a similar trend. In 2019, Bihar had 4,550 wetlands spread across 389,713 hectares. By 2025, the number of wetlands reduced by 24 to 4,526 wetlands. As per the latest green budget data, in this period, the total area of natural water bodies has shrunk by 16,843 hectares, that&#8217;s about 70% the size of Patna, Bihar&#8217;s capital. In waste&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/bihars-green-budget-expands-but-environmental-indicators-show-little-progress/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A newly-described fish sheds light on a biodiversity blind spot</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-newly-described-fish-sheds-light-on-a-biodiversity-blind-spot/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-newly-described-fish-sheds-light-on-a-biodiversity-blind-spot/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 10:42:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monish Upadhyay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freshwater]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/31003452/Image-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39744</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nagaland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Fish, Forests, Himalayas, New species, Rivers, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new catfish species, Pseudecheneis likimroensis, has been described from India&#8217;s north-eastern state of Nagaland. The species, named after the fast-flowing Likimro river, from which specimens have been collected so far, was described in the Journal of Ichthyology. The discovery took place unexpectedly when a research team was in the region to survey fish fauna [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new catfish species, Pseudecheneis likimroensis, has been described from India&#8217;s north-eastern state of Nagaland. The species, named after the fast-flowing Likimro river, from which specimens have been collected so far, was described in the Journal of Ichthyology. The discovery took place unexpectedly when a research team was in the region to survey fish fauna in Nagaland’s Kiphire district, said Limatemjen, co-author of the paper on the new species. Kiphire is a remote district, situated in the eastern part of the state and lies along the India-Myanmar border. “First we had to travel from Kohima to Kiphire, covering a distance of around 100 km. However, the journey takes much longer due to difficult road conditions,” Limatemjen, a professor of Zoology and Dean of Sciences at Kohima Science College, told Mongabay-India. After reaching Kiphire, the team took another four-hour journey to Likimro river where they walked yet another hour to reach the designated sampling site. Characteristic of mountain streams, the sampling site is torrential in nature and is surrounded by steep valleys. Around five specimens of Pseudecheneis likimroensis were collected by the team during the survey in October 2024. Although initially surprised by the unusual catch, found at an elevation of 446 m above sea level, it was only after bringing the specimens to the laboratory and running detailed examinations did the team realise they had an undescribed species at hand. A Pseudecheneis likimroensis specimen found in the fast flowing Likimro river in Nagaland in 2024. The species was described in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-newly-described-fish-sheds-light-on-a-biodiversity-blind-spot/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-newly-described-fish-sheds-light-on-a-biodiversity-blind-spot/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study warns of growing landslide threat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/study-warns-of-growing-landslide-threat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/study-warns-of-growing-landslide-threat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2026 14:29:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Climate disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster risk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landslide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[landslides]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/30131231/DSC4457-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=39737</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, Floods, Forests, Mountains, and Western Ghats]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate change and land use changes could significantly increase landslide susceptibility and risk across Karnataka’s Western Ghats by 2050, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. The modelling study evaluates future landslide susceptibility and risk by incorporating projected changes in land use/land cover (LULC) and rainfall patterns under different climate scenarios. The research [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate change and land use changes could significantly increase landslide susceptibility and risk across Karnataka’s Western Ghats by 2050, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. The modelling study evaluates future landslide susceptibility and risk by incorporating projected changes in land use/land cover (LULC) and rainfall patterns under different climate scenarios. The research covers around 45,000 square kilometres across seven districts of Karnataka, including Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, a region that has recorded more than 1,200 rainfall-triggered landslides. Unlike conventional assessments that assume landslide-causing factors remain constant over time, the researchers incorporated projected changes in rainfall and land use under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios. Using machine learning, they combined these projections to identify future landslide hotspots and assess risks to people and infrastructure, making this one of the first future-oriented landslide assessments for the region. The authors note that the intensity and frequency of fatal landslides in the Western Ghats are increasingly influenced by human-induced land use changes and climate change, making it essential to understand how these factors may evolve in the coming decades. They emphasise that susceptibility maps they developed identify areas most likely to experience landslides, while risk maps combine susceptibility with exposure to highlight locations where landslides could result in socioeconomic losses. Such assessments could inform infrastructure development, land use planning and disaster risk reduction. The findings project a significant increase in rainfall intensity and urban development by 2050, leading to higher landslide susceptibility and risk across the study area.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/study-warns-of-growing-landslide-threat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/study-warns-of-growing-landslide-threat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Volcanoes, El Niño and colonial policies fuelled two deadly famines in India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2026 13:56:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karthik Vinod]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[colonisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[famine]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/30132302/Bellary_ZillaGreat_Famine_of_1876%E2%80%9378-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39721</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Science, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Health impacts, Human Rights, Monsoons, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Two volcanic eruptions — one in Japan, and the other in Nicaragua — spewed sulfur aerosols into the atmosphere in the 1830s. This in turn accelerated cooling and a monsoon failure that triggered droughts across British-administered Agra and Madras, according to a new study. But while the volcanic eruptions triggered drought, it was decades of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Two volcanic eruptions — one in Japan, and the other in Nicaragua — spewed sulfur aerosols into the atmosphere in the 1830s. This in turn accelerated cooling and a monsoon failure that triggered droughts across British-administered Agra and Madras, according to a new study. But while the volcanic eruptions triggered drought, it was decades of colonial over-taxation and environmental degradation that further turned the monsoon failure into famines which saw mass deaths. Between 1832 and 1838, India witnessed poor monsoon. This period saw weather patterns shift globally. El Niño, a periodic climatic phenomenon in the southern hemisphere, which struck in 1833, was one of them. It affected monsoon circulation thereby bringing an extended spell of dry weather all over India. Droughts broke out in the British-administered Agra and Madras, affecting cultivation of rice, legumes and other seasonal crops. Colonial policies led to economic mismanagement, feeding a famine that left over 900,000 people dead. The study, that establishes the link between these volcanic eruptions and the resulting famines, was published in the Journal of Historical Geography in December. It finds that the cooling effects of two distant volcanic eruptions — one near Japan in 1831, one in Nicaragua in 1835 — contributed to the severe monsoon failures in India. Because the peak cooling from the 1831 eruption happened to coincide with the El Niño&#8217;s onset, the two effects made the resulting drought worse than either would likely have caused on its own. The new study adds to a “growing body of work&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/volcanoes-el-nino-and-colonial-policies-fuelled-two-deadly-famines-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The wild cat with a unique stripe pattern</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-wild-cat-with-a-unique-stripe-pattern/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-wild-cat-with-a-unique-stripe-pattern/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 15:38:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[big cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Tiger Conservation Authority]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiger conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/29151106/tiger-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=39706</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Forests, Poaching, Tigers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Tiger stripes are unique, like human fingerprints. No two tigers have the same stripes, a trait that helps researchers monitor the species’ population. In India — home to 75% of the world’s wild tigers — such monitoring plays a crucial role in conservation efforts. Tigers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. Tiger stripes are unique, like human fingerprints. No two tigers have the same stripes, a trait that helps researchers monitor the species’ population. In India — home to 75% of the world’s wild tigers — such monitoring plays a crucial role in conservation efforts. Tigers (Panthera tigris) are the largest of all big cat species, and apex predators. They have a distinctive reddish-orange yellow coat, and a muscular build. Tigers can survive in a wide range of habitats, including mangrove swamps, forests and grasslands. As a solitary and territorial animal, the tiger relies on its strength to hunt its prey, and is vital to the health of entire ecosystems. Central India holds about 40% of the country’s wild tigers, with recent estimates placing the population at around 3,682 individuals. In 1972, the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) was declared the national animal of India. In India, tigers are listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, giving it the highest level of protection. In 2006, the act was amended to provide for constituting the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for strengthening tiger conservation. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Species, tigers are endangered, which means they face a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Despite tiger populations having stabilised in the past few years, they continue to face significant threats such as shrinkage of tiger habitat, biotic interference&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-wild-cat-with-a-unique-stripe-pattern/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>India has a railway noise problem but its health impacts are poorly understood</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/india-has-a-railway-noise-problem-but-its-health-impacts-are-poorly-understood/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/india-has-a-railway-noise-problem-but-its-health-impacts-are-poorly-understood/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 14:45:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rohan Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indian Railway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[railways]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/29114606/Outer_area_of_Howrah_Junction_railway_station_India-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39704</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Environment, Health impacts, Human Rights, Pollution, and Villages]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every day, thousands of trains pass through India&#8217;s cities, towns, and densely populated settlements. For millions of Indians living alongside railway corridors, the sound of passing trains — often accompanied by ground vibrations — is part of daily life. Most days, it continues late into the night. Yet, railway noise remains a poorly understood environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every day, thousands of trains pass through India&#8217;s cities, towns, and densely populated settlements. For millions of Indians living alongside railway corridors, the sound of passing trains — often accompanied by ground vibrations — is part of daily life. Most days, it continues late into the night. Yet, railway noise remains a poorly understood environmental health risk. Recent studies have begun documenting elevated noise levels around railway tracks, with some communities experiencing exposures that exceed recommended residential limits. Yet, while researchers can increasingly measure railway noise, far less is known about what years of repeated exposure may mean for sleep, cardiovascular health, stress physiology, or quality of life. As evidence slowly emerges, researchers say India lacks a clear understanding of the cumulative human burden of railway-noise exposure, leaving important questions about health impacts unanswered. Measuring decibels, missing health evidence Studies in recent years are beginning to reveal what life near railway corridors may mean for communities around. A 2024 study led by Rajeev Kumar Mishra, an associate professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Delhi Technological University (DTU), found that residents living near railway corridors reported physiological and psychological effects associated with repeated exposure to railway noise and vibration. The research team measured noise at 10 sites near railway stations in Delhi and found that the noise exceeded Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) limits. Sleep disturbance was one of the most frequently reported concerns among surveyed residents. However, Mishra emphasises that these findings primarily document exposure to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/india-has-a-railway-noise-problem-but-its-health-impacts-are-poorly-understood/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/india-has-a-railway-noise-problem-but-its-health-impacts-are-poorly-understood/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>India’s ethanol push moves from the pump to the field, raising water and food questions</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-ethanol-push-moves-from-the-pump-to-the-field-raising-water-and-food-questions/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-ethanol-push-moves-from-the-pump-to-the-field-raising-water-and-food-questions/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 16:31:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethanol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethanol blending]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/28144133/signal-2026-07-28-12-24-18-195_003-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39684</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biofuels, Environment, Food, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Human Rights, Industry, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the third part in a series comparing India and Brazil’s ethanol transitions. This part examines how India&#8217;s ethanol model increasingly moving beyond sugarcane and molasses-based production to grains, raising questions about pressures on livestock feed and the food processing industry. The second part examined the challenges of procurement, storage, transport and quality control. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the third part in a series comparing India and Brazil’s ethanol transitions. This part examines how India&#8217;s ethanol model increasingly moving beyond sugarcane and molasses-based production to grains, raising questions about pressures on livestock feed and the food processing industry. The second part examined the challenges of procurement, storage, transport and quality control. In December 2025, tractors and crowds of farmers gathered near an under-construction grain-based ethanol plant in Rathi Khera village in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district. They feared the project would strain local water resources, pollute groundwater and damage farmland. The company said the plant would use zero-liquid-discharge technology and pollution-control systems. The protest later escalated into clashes with police, and construction was halted. The Hanumangarh agitation was one of several protests against ethanol and distillery projects reported across India, including in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana, where communities have raised concerns about water use, pollution and impacts on farmland. These disputes are emerging as India’s ethanol industry undergoes a major shift from sugarcane-based to grain-based production. In the latest tender by state oil companies, grain-based distilleries supplied more than 70% of the ethanol procured, according to Athar Shahab, managing director of Zuari Industries Limited, an Indian conglomerate with businesses spanning agribusiness, sugar and biofuels, real-estate and engineering services. A decade ago, sugarcane molasses dominated India’s ethanol supply. That balance has now shifted. India now derives roughly 65-70% of its ethanol from grains, mainly maize and rice from Food Corporation of India warehouses, while sugarcane-based feedstocks contribute around&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/indias-ethanol-push-moves-from-the-pump-to-the-field-raising-water-and-food-questions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>New-to-science spider highlights importance of open natural ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 11:30:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ananya Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arthropods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spiders]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/28094856/0E3A1302-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39669</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deccan Plateau, Grasslands, New species, Positive Environmental, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What began as a routine vegetation monitoring survey in Maharashtra&#8217;s semi-arid grasslands took an unexpected turn when researchers overturned a rock and stumbled upon a silk-lined burrow underneath. They recognised it as the burrow of a trapdoor spider — an ancient group of spiders, many species of which construct doors of silk and soil to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What began as a routine vegetation monitoring survey in Maharashtra&#8217;s semi-arid grasslands took an unexpected turn when researchers overturned a rock and stumbled upon a silk-lined burrow underneath. They recognised it as the burrow of a trapdoor spider — an ancient group of spiders, many species of which construct doors of silk and soil to conceal their burrow openings and ambush passing prey. The team dug through the soil, following the burrow to its end where a female trapdoor spider of the genus Tigidia lay in a bulb-shaped chamber. A detailed examination of this specimen, collected in November 2025 near Nandeshwar Mahadev Temple in Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, confirmed it as a new-to-science species. Researchers named it Tigidia singhal in their study published in the journal Arachnology, bringing the number of Tigidia species in India to eight. Until now, species of this genus were known from peninsular India’s tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, particularly the Western and Eastern Ghats. T. singhal is the first record of this genus from a semi-arid open natural ecosystem, significantly expanding its known range. “The species inhabits rocky hilltop grasslands of the Deccan Plateau, an ecosystem often overlooked despite supporting remarkable biodiversity,” wrote study authors Rishikesh Tripathi and Prasad Bolde in an email to Mongabay-India. “Finding a previously unknown trapdoor spider here highlights how little we still know about the biodiversity of these open natural ecosystems,” they added. A female of the newly described trapdoor spider, Tigidia singhal (left) and the silk-lined burrow (right) built by this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-to-science-spider-highlights-importance-of-open-natural-ecosystems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Insects may be guiding seasonal bird movements in the eastern Himalayas, study finds</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 10:45:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manjeera Gowravaram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern himalayas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/28092911/image-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39660</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Community based conservation, Conservation, Ecology, Forests, Global Warming, Insects, Migration, Mountains, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every winter, in the Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, certain birds like babblers, laughing thrushes, yuhinas and other small mountain birds, that spent the warm months at the top of the mountains, begin making their way down. Many of them don&#8217;t really fly at all, they just hop, branch by branch, tree by tree, descending hundreds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every winter, in the Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, certain birds like babblers, laughing thrushes, yuhinas and other small mountain birds, that spent the warm months at the top of the mountains, begin making their way down. Many of them don&#8217;t really fly at all, they just hop, branch by branch, tree by tree, descending hundreds of metres over days and weeks. And come summer, they go back up again. These seasonal journeys are common in the Himalayas, where roughly 65% of high-elevation birds make some form of elevational movement. Yet, the reasons behind these shifts have remained only partially understood. &#8220;The theory behind why birds migrate has two major explanations, both connected to temperature,&#8221; said Tarun Menon, a Ph.D. researcher at the Indian Institute of Science and the study&#8217;s lead author. &#8220;One is that cold directly affects the bird and it moves to stay warm. The other is that the cold affects the food, and the bird is following the food.&#8221; What Menon had noticed during his earlier work in the Himalayas was that the birds that were most likely to migrate down the mountain in winter were almost always insectivores. That observation eventually grew into a larger question: were the birds following the insects rather than escaping the cold? A view of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, where insect availability, more than temperature alone, may be guiding the seasonal movements of birds up and down the mountain ranges. Image by Tarun Menon. The study, published in Biology Letters, offers evidence from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/insects-may-be-guiding-seasonal-bird-movements-in-the-eastern-himalayas-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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						<item>
					<title>Roads a risk to the world&#8217;s smallest wild cat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/roads-a-risk-to-the-worlds-smallest-wild-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/roads-a-risk-to-the-worlds-smallest-wild-cat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 15:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nikhil Sreekandan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roadkill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rusty spotted cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small wild cats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/27131148/Rusty_spotted_cat_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39631</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Uttar Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Human Wildlife Conflict, Protected Areas, Roads, Wildlife, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have reported two roadkill incidents of the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) at the National Chambal Sanctuary in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. The two records are the first documented occurrence of the small carnivore in southern Uttar Pradesh, according to the research paper published in the Journal of Threatened [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have reported two roadkill incidents of the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) at the National Chambal Sanctuary in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. The two records are the first documented occurrence of the small carnivore in southern Uttar Pradesh, according to the research paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa in May. Roadkill data for small carnivores is heavily underreported, and these records were “a matter of chance”, according to Vishnupriya Kolipakam, a WII scientist and one of the paper’s authors. While they add a new locality to the small cat’s known range, the wildlife sanctuary falls within its distribution range, Kolipakam said. “The wild cat has been reported from areas all around Chambal, including Kuno, Rangarh-Vishdhar, Ranthambhore, and Dholpur,” she said. However, this follows a pattern, as seen in recent papers that have curated sighting reports of the strictly nocturnal cat. There were nine records of roadkill from the Saurashtra Peninsula in Gujarat between 2016 and 2024, and four records from Rajasthan between 2000 and 2020. In Nepal, too, where the cat was discovered as recently as 2016, there has been a record of a roadkill. For an elusive small cat that has been rarely observed in the wild, these roadkill records add up to a significant number. There are also not enough studies looking at the effects of roads on small carnivores, noted Shomita Mukherjee, a senior principal scientist at the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON). “Whatever is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/roads-a-risk-to-the-worlds-smallest-wild-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/roads-a-risk-to-the-worlds-smallest-wild-cat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Beyond the Hype</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/beyond-the-hype/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/beyond-the-hype/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 14:05:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay User]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[solution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/27135230/AP18156273631906-e1776075312665-768x510-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=39646</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Air Pollution, Environment, Green Business, Greenwashing, Industry, Nature-based Climate Solutions, and Waste management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From cloud seeding to carbon capture, there are several technologies and interventions increasingly being promoted as silver bullet solutions to environmental challenges. Through evidence-based reporting, we look beyond the headlines to assess the scientific evidence, practical challenges and the scale of the potential impact of some of these solutions.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From cloud seeding to carbon capture, there are several technologies and interventions increasingly being promoted as silver bullet solutions to environmental challenges. Through evidence-based reporting, we look beyond the headlines to assess the scientific evidence, practical challenges and the scale of the potential impact of some of these solutions.This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/beyond-the-hype/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Low rainfall delays paddy farming signalling El Niño-induced drought</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/signs-of-el-nino-induced-drought-as-paddy-farming-delays/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/signs-of-el-nino-induced-drought-as-paddy-farming-delays/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 13:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vishal Kumar Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paddy]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/27104503/144-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39614</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Connections]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jharkhand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather Events, Food, Human Rights, Monsoons, Villages, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Barun Kumar Yadav from Jharkhand works in Bhilai city in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh as a carpenter. At the end of June he went to his village Pathalgada in Chatra district for the sowing season. This is when farmers sow paddy in Jharkhand. Rainfall is extremely crucial for this season. Yadav waited for weeks, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Barun Kumar Yadav from Jharkhand works in Bhilai city in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh as a carpenter. At the end of June he went to his village Pathalgada in Chatra district for the sowing season. This is when farmers sow paddy in Jharkhand. Rainfall is extremely crucial for this season. Yadav waited for weeks, but it did not rain sufficiently. Now, the 40-year-old has returned to Bhilai without sowing paddy. Basant Dangi, also from the same village in Jharkhand, managed to set up a paddy nursery using water from a community well. But with insufficient rain, the land has dried and cracks have appeared in his field. “If it doesn’t rain in a day or two, the nursery seedlings will start to wither. The wider the cracks become, the more irrigation will be required. Paddy transplantation can only take place once it rains,” he says. Similarly, in Andreas Topno&#8217;s field in the nearby village of Meral, paddy seedlings are ready to be transplanted from the nursery to the field, but the lack of rainfall has changed his plans too. Shankar Dangi, a farmer from Chautha village, waited for the rains and then decided not to sow paddy this year. “It is better to sow maize than to keep waiting for the rain. However, the maize yield will also be low because there has been a delay of 10 days (for the start of monsoon),” he says. In Jharkhand, where kharif sowing season is linked to the monsoon, sowing was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/signs-of-el-nino-induced-drought-as-paddy-farming-delays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rethinking irrigation through farm ponds [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rethinking-irrigation-through-farm-ponds-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rethinking-irrigation-through-farm-ponds-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 11:06:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Partik KumarParul]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irrigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/27094551/1_Jamal-scaled-e1785125772499-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39605</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Haryana]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Food, Groundwater, Natural Resources, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the sandy fields of Jamal, a village in the Sirsa district of Haryana, water for irrigation does not arrive through a single source. It is mixed, stored, lifted, diluted, timed, subsidised and improvised. Jamal’s landscape first appears dry and exposed: mustard and wheat fields stretch across a semi-arid plain, field channels cutting through farms, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the sandy fields of Jamal, a village in the Sirsa district of Haryana, water for irrigation does not arrive through a single source. It is mixed, stored, lifted, diluted, timed, subsidised and improvised. Jamal’s landscape first appears dry and exposed: mustard and wheat fields stretch across a semi-arid plain, field channels cutting through farms, sand dunes levelled into cultivable plots, and very few functioning tubewells in the conventional sense. But the most striking feature is the diggi — a pond, often lined and built within the farmland. Mixing canal water and groundwater Canal water has clear agronomic value for a farmer: it is usually fresh, low-cost, and is drawn from Himalayan river flows and monsoon-fed storage. But it has limits. It moves through schedules, rotations, field channels, upstream–downstream hierarchies, tail-end losses and sometimes informal diversion. For farmers, this means canal water is valuable, but rarely fully controllable. It is not “on-demand” irrigation; it is scheduled irrigation. The Green Revolution made these limits sharper. High-yielding crops require water at the right time and in the right amount. This created space for what scholars describe as “atomistic irrigation” which means private wells and pumps that give farmers control, flexibility and timely access. Groundwater offers command. But at times, the groundwater’s quality becomes its biggest limitation. In regions with high groundwater salinity, the water is undesirable for irrigation. Jamal, on the Haryana–Rajasthan border, sits precisely in that type of region. It lies near the tail end of Haryana’s canal system, where canal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rethinking-irrigation-through-farm-ponds-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>New DNA analysis reveals what dholes eat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-dna-analysis-reveals-what-dholes-eat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-dna-analysis-reveals-what-dholes-eat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2026 13:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rajeev Tyagi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dhole]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild dog]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/24130643/8867390742_7849bf68c4_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39584</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behaviour, Animals, Conservation, Food, Forests, Human Wildlife Conflict, Mammals, National Parks, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dholes (Cuon alpinus), also known as Asiatic wild dogs, are among the most threatened carnivores globally and are currently listed as ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Understanding what they eat, can offer clues that will aid in their conservation. Researchers have now developed a new technique to analyse their diet [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dholes (Cuon alpinus), also known as Asiatic wild dogs, are among the most threatened carnivores globally and are currently listed as ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Understanding what they eat, can offer clues that will aid in their conservation. Researchers have now developed a new technique to analyse their diet by using only “small pinches” of scat material. Non-invasive fecal samples have become increasingly important for studying the diet of elusive and endangered species, as they provide finer taxonomic resolution. But while most recent metabarcoding studies have used methods involving the collection of whole scats in ziplock bags or centrifuge tubes with silica beads, molecular ecologist Abhinav Tyagi and his colleagues took a different approach. While researching dhole diet inside the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, forest staff trained by Tyagi, instead of scooping up entire piles of dhole scat from the ground, collected only “small pinches” of material. Samples were collected during the monsoon (August-September 2022) and winter (January-February 2023). The study, published in Environmental DNA, is a collaboration between the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and the Maharashtra Forest Department, and uses &#8220;DNA metabarcoding to assess spatial and seasonal variation in dhole diet from a high-density dhole landscape.” Researcher Abhinav Tyagi collects a dhole scat sample during field research in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. A new technique has been developed to analyse diet by using only “small pinches” of scat. Image courtesy of Abhinav Tyagi. “The study found, their diet, irrespective of season,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/new-dna-analysis-reveals-what-dholes-eat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Supporting infrastructure is the missing link in India&#8217;s ethanol push</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/supporting-infrastructure-is-the-missing-link-in-indias-ethanol-push/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/supporting-infrastructure-is-the-missing-link-in-indias-ethanol-push/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2026 12:39:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manish Chandra Mishra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethanol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethanol blending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petrol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petroleum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vehicles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/24105649/AP23242459662267-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39570</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biofuels, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, Sustainability, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the second part in a series comparing India and Brazil’s ethanol transitions. Brazil’s decades-long experience shows that producing ethanol is only half the challenge. This story examines the real test which lies in procurement, storage, transport and quality control, the systems that decide whether ethanol actually reaches the pump reliably. The first part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second part in a series comparing India and Brazil’s ethanol transitions. Brazil’s decades-long experience shows that producing ethanol is only half the challenge. This story examines the real test which lies in procurement, storage, transport and quality control, the systems that decide whether ethanol actually reaches the pump reliably. The first part looked at what that difference means for vehicle owners in both countries. At a petrol pump in Bhopal’s Katara Hills, a 40-year-old pump attendant smiles when asked whether customers talk about ethanol-blended petrol. “People come and joke, ‘ganne ka juice bhardo’ (Fill sugarcane juice),” he says, referring to E20 petrol, a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol. In India, sugarcane is one of the main feedstocks used to produce ethanol. The sarcasm reflects the public conversation that has followed the rapid expansion of E20. Videos and posts circulating online have raised questions about the colour and quality of the fuel, its compatibility with older vehicles, and possible changes in mileage or performance. Government agencies and automobile manufacturers have disputed several of these claims. The debate has nevertheless brought attention to how ethanol is transported, stored, blended and tested before fuel reaches a petrol pump. Brazil’s ethanol mission seems to have inspired India to a great extent as the South American country often comes up in India’s ethanol debate, usually as a success story of higher blends. Interactions with people who run Brazil’s ethanol system bring out some crucial lessons for India. For Brazil, where&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/supporting-infrastructure-is-the-missing-link-in-indias-ethanol-push/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rising sugarcane yields coexist with climate, water risks in semi-arid India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-sugarcane-yields-coexist-with-climate-water-risks-in-semi-arid-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-sugarcane-yields-coexist-with-climate-water-risks-in-semi-arid-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 13:24:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sneha Mahale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/23122529/AP20014192009835-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39553</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Drought, and Food]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sugarcane cultivation across parts of India’s Deccan Plateau is becoming more productive. But, it is also becoming more vulnerable to climate variability, a new long-term study finds. Sugarcane has long shaped India’s rural economy. It powers sugar mills, supports ethanol and bioenergy production, and sustains millions of farmers. But the crop is also at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sugarcane cultivation across parts of India’s Deccan Plateau is becoming more productive. But, it is also becoming more vulnerable to climate variability, a new long-term study finds. Sugarcane has long shaped India’s rural economy. It powers sugar mills, supports ethanol and bioenergy production, and sustains millions of farmers. But the crop is also at the centre of mounting concerns over water use, particularly in semi-arid regions facing recurrent droughts and groundwater stress. The study analysed 22 years of sugarcane production trends across five districts in Maharashtra and Karnataka to understand how cultivation, yields and production patterns have changed under varying climatic conditions. “We noticed that sugarcane cultivation in Maharashtra and Karnataka was increasingly being affected by climatic variability, even though it remains one of the most important economic activities across the Deccan Plateau,” says Krishna Kumar from the Department of Applied Science and Humanities at MIT-ADT University, Pune, and one of the study’s researchers. Tracking sugarcane trends across climate zones Sugarcane production trends in India have been studied extensively at national and state levels, but long-term district-level analyses incorporating weather variability remain limited. “The main concern was to pin down how climate variability impacts agricultural production in water-limited sugarcane systems,” adds Kumar. “This kind of insight matters a lot for creating climate resilient agricultural policies and planning better infrastructure.” For the study, researchers analysed sugarcane production trends between 1999 and 2021 in Ahmednagar, Solapur and Nashik in Maharashtra, and Bellary and Dharwad in Karnataka. The five districts span distinct agro-climatic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-sugarcane-yields-coexist-with-climate-water-risks-in-semi-arid-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>West coast fishers confront ‘ghost gear’ problem</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/west-coast-fishers-confront-ghost-gear-problem/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/west-coast-fishers-confront-ghost-gear-problem/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 10:47:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Bociaga]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fishermen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ghost nets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Fisheries]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/23095213/IMG_5513-2048x1536-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39539</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Oceans, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the early light at Thoppumpady fishing harbour in the city of Kochi, coils of blue and green nylon nets lay heaped on the concrete docks, stiff with salt after a long night at sea. Many had been patched and repatched so often that they were barely holding together. Nets too damaged to mend are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the early light at Thoppumpady fishing harbour in the city of Kochi, coils of blue and green nylon nets lay heaped on the concrete docks, stiff with salt after a long night at sea. Many had been patched and repatched so often that they were barely holding together. Nets too damaged to mend are often cut loose offshore. Once they sink, few are ever recovered. Across India’s west coast, lost fishing gear known as “ghost gear” has become a significant source of marine pollution. Nets vanish whole or in fragments, slipping into the waters of the Arabian Sea where they continue trapping fish, turtles and other marine life long after fishers abandon them. India operates one of the world’s largest marine fishing sectors, supporting an estimated 14.5 million livelihoods along more than 7,500 kilometres of coastline. While national estimates are scarce, a 2022 study in the southwestern state of Kerala, where Kochi is located, found that fishers lost, abandoned or discarded about 21% of their fishing gear annually. That’s more than 10 times the global average of 1.82% estimated by another study, which highlights the scale of material entering India’s marine environment. Despite growing concern among researchers and conservationists, India lacks a systematic way to track, retrieve or recycle lost fishing gear, as well as accessible mechanisms to collect and safely dispose of end-of-life nets and other equipment before they are discarded at sea. The government regulates fisheries tightly in many respects — from mesh sizes and seasonal bans&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/west-coast-fishers-confront-ghost-gear-problem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Farmers of the forest</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/farmers-of-the-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/farmers-of-the-forest/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2026 13:36:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Team Mongabay-India]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/22101044/hornbill_species-file-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=39533</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Species File]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystem services, Endangered species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India is home to nine hornbill species. They nest in the hollows of high-canopy trees, inside which females seal themselves during breeding.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Species File: Exploring India&#8217;s biodiversity, one species at a time. In July, four Malabar pied hornbills were spotted near agricultural fields along the Muyyam river in Kannur district, Kerala, a first for the area. The sighting was considered a marvel given that the species is rarely spotted outside dense forests. Another hornbill species, the Indian grey hornbill, has been breeding successfully in Gujarat’s Gir National Park, where 40 individuals was translocated in 2021. Despite these instances, hunting and other threats continue to loom over the hornbills in India. In June, the forest department arrested three people in connection with the hunting of a protected hornbill in Assam’s Tinsukia district, highlighting continued pressure on the species. Hornbills (family Bucerotidae) are birds found largely in the tropics of sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia. They are easily recognised by their long, curved bills topped with a casque. The birds nest in the natural hollows of high-canopy trees, where females seal themselves inside tree cavities during breeding. Hornbills are often known as ‘farmers of the forest’ due to their propensity to consume fruits and disperse seeds far and wide. India is home to nine hornbill species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species, some, such as the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) and Malabar grey hornbill (Ocyceros griseus) are listed as vulnerable. The Malabar pied hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) is near threatened with a declining population, while the Indian grey hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) population remains relatively stable.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/farmers-of-the-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>A lone moth leads the discovery of a new genus</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/a-lone-moth-leads-the-discovery-of-a-new-genus/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/a-lone-moth-leads-the-discovery-of-a-new-genus/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2026 13:18:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[moths]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/22111232/Antaram-idukki-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology, Insects, New species, Western Ghats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists and naturalists has described a completely new genus and species of tiger moth found in Kerala. Belonging to the tiger moth subfamily Arctiinae (Erebidae), the species, now named Antaram idukki, was discovered in the state&#8217;s Idukki district. According to the study&#8217;s lead author, Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate of the Zoological Survey of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists and naturalists has described a completely new genus and species of tiger moth found in Kerala. Belonging to the tiger moth subfamily Arctiinae (Erebidae), the species, now named Antaram idukki, was discovered in the state&#8217;s Idukki district. According to the study&#8217;s lead author, Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate of the Zoological Survey of India, the insect is so distinct that it cannot be placed in any known genus of tiger moths. “We collected this specimen from Idukki in 2024, but it didn&#8217;t match any known tiger moth genus from India,” says Kalawate. “After conducting a detailed morphological analysis, I contacted Alberto Zilli, curator at the Natural History Museum, London, and co-author of the paper, asking him to compare it with genera across the entire subfamily. It took him five to six months to complete the assessment, and he eventually confirmed that it did not match any known genus. That’s when we concluded we were looking at a new genus.” Typically taxonomists discover species so discovering an an entirely new genus, a rank in the biological classification system that is above species, is a rare finding. The researchers named the new genus Antaram and the species Antaram idukki. It differs in its body structure and reproductive anatomy from all known tiger moth groups. The team collected only a single male specimen from Idukki district in the southern Western Ghats. They say this could indicate that the species is either extremely rare or has simply escaped detection, as moth diversity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/a-lone-moth-leads-the-discovery-of-a-new-genus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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