518 of 697 lakes in J&K either vanished or shrunk: CAG

A whopping 518 lakes, constituting about 74% of the 697 lakes in Jammu and Kashmir, have either disappeared or shrunk, according to the latest report of the Comptroller and Audi-tor General of India (CAG) on Conservation and Management of Lakes for the period up to March 2022. The report highlighted that 315 lakes, 45% of the total lakes in the Union Territory that constitute a water area of 1,537.07 hectares, have disappeared.

SC refuses to interfere with environmental nod to Kerala's Kozhikode-Wayanad tunnel project

The Supreme Court on Monday decided not to interfere in a challenge raised by the Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi against the construction of a twin tube tunnel corridor deep within the ecologically fragile West-ern Ghats zone in Kerala, saying the project seems to be of "national importance" in a land-starved State riddled by bottle-necks on roads and highways.

A disturbing step for rights, dignity and mental health

The Transgender Amendment Bill threatens welfare access and instils fear and humiliation for an already vulnerable population

Climate change as a public health emergency

Climate change also triggers rising air pollution. As summers become increasingly hotter, greater reliance on air conditioning drives higher energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions contain elevated levels of PM_2.5 - microscopic pollutants that penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream - exerting widespread effects across multiple organs in the body, particularly the lungs, heart and kidneys.      

Reinforcing the case for a One Health approach

This year's World Health Day message - "Together for health. Stand with science" - underlines the essentiality of adopting a One Health approach to protect animals, the environment, and humans. It also highlights the critical role of scientific collaboration and the use of evidence in crafting policy. As Out-break outlines cinematically, there is a permanent state of conflict bet-ween different departments, arms of the government, and even nations, that come in the way of working synchronously to better tackle health crises.

What TB reveals about India's urban health system

Tuberculosis rarely appears overnight. It develops slowly at the intersection of impoverishment, precarious livelihoods, and fragile health systems. Each case tells a larger story - not just about infection, but about the conditions in which people live and the systems meant to protect them. On World Health Day, TB serves as a stark reminder that if "Health for All" is to mean anything, it must include those whose health risks are produced by the way our cities' systems are built and governed.

Understanding India's internet censorship regime

ISPs in India block websites in response to government and court orders. However, implementation is not uniform across ISPs, and blocklists vary widely.

For domains hosting terrorism and militancy content, blocking is more consistent across ISPs, with near consensus in certain sensitive cases. At the same time, almost all ISPs appear to engage in some form of arbitrary blocking. 

RS Chairman, LS Speaker reject Opposition notice seeking CEC's removal

Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have rejected a notice submitted by 193 Opposition MPs across both Houses seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Ku-mar. No specific reasons were cited for the rejection. 

'New Bangladesh-India ties will avoid mistakes of past'

Bangladesh wants to build a relation with India that will be focused on "people-to-people" ties and that will not be limited to individuals and political parties, said a senior official of the current government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday.

Humayun Kobir, Fo-reign Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Rahman, said the "new" relation between the two sides will avoid the repeat of "past mistakes".

Role of independent directors vital: SEBI

Independence does not translate into action in Indian corporates' perspective, said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairman, SEBI.

He underscored the im-portance of independent directors in ensuring ethical conduct of firms saying 'conversation must now move beyond who sits on the board to how effectively they are able to contribute once they are there."

Strait of Hormuz will never return to its old status: IRGC

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Mon-day that the Strait of Hormuz, a critical internation-al waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, has under-gone "irreversible strategic changes" and will never re-turn to its previous status.

Israel hits key petrochemical terminal in Iran's South Pars

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday that Israel had conducted a "powerful strike" on Iran's largest petrochemical complex, with the operator saying it was assessing the damage from the attacks.

Psychedelics are revealing how the brain builds the sense of self

Psychedelics can temporarily 'loosen' the brain patterns that support the feeling of a 'me, allowing researchers to watch that system reorganise itself in real time; the emerging evidence points less to transcendence than to flexibility: a reminder that the experience of self is dynamic, not fixed