CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Kandhamal district of Odisha has emerged as a major hotspot for illicit cannabis cultivation, with record seizures reported in 2025, bringing national attention to the growing nexus between rural distress, geography, and the illegal narcotics economy.

A recent study published in Current Biology has uncovered the cellular and evolutionary mechanisms that enable mangroves to survive extreme salinity. The findings have important implications for developing salt-tolerant crops in the context of climate change, sea-level rise, and increasing soil salinisation.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has designated Siliserh Lake in Rajasthan and Kopra Reservoir in Chhattisgarh as new Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance.

India has added Siliserh Lake (Rajasthan) and Kopra Jalashay (Chhattisgarh) to the list of Ramsar Sites — wetlands recognised as being of global ecological importance under the Ramsar Convention.

Recently, Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary of the Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department of Tamil Nadu, was awarded the 2025 Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Recently, more than 40 new species, including a new snake and a possible new bird species, have been discovered in the Great Nicobar Mega Infrastructure Project area.

The outcomes of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, have underscored a stark reality, the 1.5°C global warming threshold has effectively been breached, and the world is running out of time to avert deepening climate crises. Amid this urgency, experts are calling for stronger South-led regional climate multilateralism, with South Asia emerging as a critical geography for coordinated climate action.

India is finalising its next set of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2035 under the Paris Agreement. As the country is on track to achieve its 2030 commitments, policymakers are now designing an expanded, economy-wide energy transition strategy aligned with India’s Net-Zero 2070 target.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations releases the SOLAW Report every two years. SOLAW 2025 focuses on unlocking the hidden and untapped potential of land, soil, and water resources to ensure:

Increasing industrialization, urbanization, and uncontrolled disposal of solid and liquid waste in India have led to serious environmental pollution.